African Peanut Stew

1 T olive oil
1 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow or red onion (abt 2 medium)
1 1/4 c finely chopped red/yellow/green pepper (1 large)
1/2 c chopped celery (abt 2 stalks)
3 garlic cloves
2 T minced fresh ginger
1 T curry powder
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 bay leaf
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 large sweet potato or 2 potatoes cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups edamame or sweet peas
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup cilantro
2 cups diced spinach or other greens
1/2 tsp salt
Coarsely ground pepper

Heat oil in pan over medium.  Add onion, pepper, carrot and celery.  Saute until soft about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, ginger and curry powder.  Saute one minute.  Add tomatoes and bay leaf.  Cook uncovered about three minutes.    Add broth and sweet potatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and and simmer about 8 minutes.  Add edamame and peanut butter.  Stir to combine.  Add cilantro and spinach.  Cook until thoroughly heated and spinach wilts, about 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serves 8.

Our Best Bites Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1/3 C pumpkin, canned or homemade1/4 – 1/2 C milk
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/16 t cloves (just use a 1/8 t measure and fill it half way, or do a pinch)
1/16 t nutmeg
2 T brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
1-2 graham crackers

Pop everything but graham crackers in a blender. Start with 1/4 C milk and then slowly add more if needed to make the blender process it all. I used somewhere between 1/4-1/2 C.

Quinoa Stir Fry w/Spinach and Walnuts

2 cups quinoa (measured dry)
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic
1 cup diced walnuts
spinach leaves
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup parmesan cheese
fresh basil leaves to garnish

1. Place quinoa in small bowl, add water to cover, swish to rinse.  Pour into mesh strainer and drain well.  Heat oil in medium skillet.  Add quinoa.  Toast, stirring, over medium until golden (about 10 minutes).  2.Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add salt and 2 cups of water. Heat to a boil.  cover and cook over medium low heat until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
3. Spread walnuts in small skillet and stir over medium low heat until toasted, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
4. When quinoa is cooed, add spinach and tomatoes to skillet.  stir fry over medium heat until spinach is almost wilted and tomatoes are warmed, about 1 minute.  Stir in walnuts and cheese. Don't overcook.  Garnish with basil.  Serve warm.

Black Bean and Sweet Corn Quinoa

Submitted by Mindy ~ The Sisters Cafe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup frozen sweet white corn
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  When shimmering and hot, add the onions and saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.  Add the garlic and stir for a minute or two until the garlic is fragrant, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the quinoa and cover with broth.  Stir in cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes (or until the liquid is absorbed). 

Stir in the frozen corn and black beans.  Cover and let the pot sit off the heat until the corn and beans are heated through, about 5-6 minutes.  Stir in cilantro.  Serve warm or chilled - it is delicious both ways!

Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach

From the Recipe Shoebox.

The ingredients:

6 Tbs. olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 box (1-lb) penne pasta

5-oz. fresh spinach, chopped

1 Tbs. dried basil (or 1/2 cup fresh)

6 Tbs. lemon juice

1 cup Parmesan cheese



Directions:

Heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a small glass bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute to blend flavors. Pour about 1 tablespoon of the flavored oil in a skillet. Salt and pepper chicken and cook in the oil over medium high heat until chicken is browned and juices run clear. Add the chopped and spinach and saute with the cooked chicken for 1 minute (or until just barely wilted) and remove from heat. Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package; drain well. Add cooked chicken/spinach to pasta, along with basil, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese. Then stir in the remainder of the flavored olive oil. Toss lightly until all ingredients are well-combined. Serve immediately. Makes about 6 servings. Enjoy!

French Peasant Bread

(this recipe courtesy of http://www.recipeshoebox.blogspot.com/)

The ingredients:


1 Tbs. dry, quick rising yeast

2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

1 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour (NOTE: this will not be firm bread dough, but if the weather is humid and the dough is really sticky, you may need to add up to one extra cup of flour)

olive oil (for greasing the pan)

corn meal (for pan)

1/4 cup butter, melted (for brushing over top before and after baking)



Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until blended, but do NOT knead.

Cover and let rise one hour or until double in size. (NOTE: I usually only let it rise 20-30 minutes and still love the way it turns out!) Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 roughly equal rounds on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal (dough may be sticky and not hold its shape well--that's okay. It's not supposed to be pretty.) Let rise an additional hour.
Brush the tops and sides of the rounds with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook an additional 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush tops and sides of rounds again with melted butter. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Soup

2 T butter or coconut oil
2 onion chopped
4 lbs tomatoes or 64 oz diced tomatoes
4 carrots chopped
4 c chicken or vegetable stock
4 T fresh parsley or 2 T parsley
1 tsp thyme
1/3 c cream or milk or coconut milk

Melt the butter and add onion.  Cook for 5 minutes until soft.  Stir in the tomatoes, carrots, stock, parley and tym.  Bring to boil and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.  Puree in blender.  Return to pan and add cream or coconut milk.

Dr. Ziment's Garlic Chicken Soup

This is really good when you are fighting a cold.   This is a therapeutic soup.  I will add a favorite chicken soup next.

3 1/2 cups chicken broth
15 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, quartered
1 1/2 T minced parsley and cilantro
1 tsp minced basil
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 T fresh lemon juice
Put all ingredients except lemon juice in pot and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  In a blender puree the cooked garlic, onions and herbs with a little liquid and stir back into the soup. Add lemon juice.

Hawaiian Haystacks

4 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 - 1 can milk
1 cup sour cream
2 -3 cups diced cooked chicken or canned chicken

Combine the above and let simmer for 1/2 hour.

Serve over rice with the following toppings:

diced tomatoes, diced green onion, diced celery, sunflower seeds, pineapple, green peas thawed, shredded cheese, diced olives, peanuts, chow mein noodles, coconut

Homemade Wonton Soup

Amazing!!!!!! A new favorite.

Ingredients


1 bunch green onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, divided

6 fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 pound ground pork

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 egg

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (16 ounce) package wonton wrappers

8 cups chicken broth

16 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (optional)

1 medium head bok choy, torn into 2-inch pieces

16 snow peas

1 dash soy sauce, or to taste (optional)

1 dash sesame oil, to taste (optional)

Directions

1.Dice the green onions, and set aside all but 1 tablespoon. Slice the mushrooms, and set aside all but 1 tablespoon. Finely chop the 1 tablespoon of green onions and 1 tablespoon of sliced mushrooms, and place in a bowl with the ground pork, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, egg, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Stir to thoroughly mix the pork filling.

2.Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the pork filling onto the center of each wonton wrapper. Use your finger or a pastry brush to lightly moisten the edges of the wonton wrappers with water. Fold one corner of the wrapper over the filling onto the opposite corner to form a triangle. Press the edges together to seal. Moisten the two long ends of the triangle, fold them together, and press them firmly to seal.

3.Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Drop the wontons, one by one, into the broth, and let them cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until they float to the surface. Reduce heat to a simmer, and gently stir in the shrimp, bok choy, and reserved sliced mushrooms. Let the soup simmer 2 more minutes, until the shrimp turn pink, and then drop in the snow pea pods. Garnish with the remaining green onions and a dash of soy sauce and sesame oil, and serve immediately.

Chia Rolls

These are a variation on a friends delcious roll recipe. I altered it slightly to make it a little more healthy.  They turned out surprisingly delicious.

2 cups warm water
1/3 cup agave
2 T yeast
Allow this to sit for ten minutes in mixer.

Add:
1/3 cup oil + 2 T water
1 and 1/2 T chia seeds
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups white flour
2 tsp salt
Mix this together adding 1 more cup of white flour until just slightly sticky.
Let rise for one hour or until double.
Punch down.  Form into 35 ping pong size balls.  Place in jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Allow to rise for approximately one hour until double.
Bake on 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Enjoy!

Chilean Zucchini Boats with Cilantro Sauce

Large Zucchini
Onion
Oil
Carrots
2 eggs
Parsley
Bread Crumbs

Put a large stock pot of water on to boil.

Cut zucchini in half.  Spoon out the inside leave a thin canoe 1/4 inch thick.  Melon baller works great.  Put in a bowl.  In a skillet add 1 T oil, 1 small diced onion and 2 shredded carrots. Add salt and pepper to taste.  When soft add the Zucchini until cooked through.  Turn off heat.
Beat 2 eggs in a separate bowl. Add a handful of chopped parsley.  To the  zucchini mixture,  stir in approximately 4 T of bread crumbs, 1 T at a time to make a paste of the mixture, not too hard.  Then add the egg.  Stir well. 
Put the zucchini canoes in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes until soft.  Place them on a jelly roll pan.  Stuff with the zucchini mixture.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Top with cheese optional.
Bake at 375 until golden brown.  Time varies depending on size. Approx 15 minutes plus.

Cilantro Sauce

1 bunch of cilantro
1 egg
1 T oil
1/4 -1/2 tsp salt
juice from one whole lemon
1 clove garlic
1 yellow wax pepper or anaheim, include seeds
1/2 jalepeno

Place all in blender. Blend until smooth.  Drizzle over zucchini boats.

Christmas Salad

I made this for a ward Christmas dinner.  It was a hit!


1 head red leaf lettuce
1 head green leaf lettuce
2 large grapefruit
1 large pomegranate
1 large avocado
1 large pear

Dressing:
1 cup sugar
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
2/3 c apple cider vinegar
2 cups vegetable oil
1 T poppy seeds

Blend dressing in blender. Refrigerate until ready to use. Tear lettuce into small pieces, set aside. Peel grapefruits and cut into sections, set aside. Seed pomegranate, set aside.  Assemble  salads on individual salad plates: place lettuce on plate, arrange grapefruit and pomegranate seeds on top, slice avocado and pear, put pieces onto each plate, then drizzle dressing over each salad and serve. Or mix all together and serve immediately.