Cold Pea & Herb Soup

Ingredients and instructions:

 Purée in a blender: 

 One lb. frozen green peas, thawed 

 One med. avacado 

 Two c. cold water

1/4 c. lemon juice (I used bottled) 

 Two cloves garlic, pressed 

 Salt and pepper 

 When blended you can top with minced dill and scallions and more pepper. 

Joanne Roasted Acorn Squash

Got this recipe and a nice acorn squash from my trainer - had never bought one. It was outstanding!!  

Ingredients

1 acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise

1 Tb. Coconut oil

1 Tb. Raw honey

1/2 tsp. sea salt (optional)

1/4 c. Walnuts, lightly toasted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 deg. F

2. Place squash cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet or shallow baking dish.

3. Add 1/4" water to the baking dish. 

4. Bake for 45 minutes or until peel is soft to touch.

5. Remove from oven and carefully turn over. Remove squash from peel and add coconut oil, honey, and sea salt. 

6. Top with toasted walnuts to serve.

7. To cook squash in microwave, place squash flesh side down in a microwave dish. Add 1/2" of water and microwave 8-12 minutes. Check often, as each microwave will vary on cooking time. 

8. Optionally top dish with dried fruit, other nuts, and cinnamon.

Pinterest inspired chicken taco filling

I read multiple chicken filling crockpot recipes that I decided to combine what I liked. I was not disappointed. Is it perfect. No. Is it good? Yes! Was it easy? Yes!! Note: I forgot to take a picture of the chicken for the ingredients, and of the final food before I put it away. 

Ingredients:

1lb. Boneless chicken breasts

1 jar salsa, I used medium red gold

I can black beans, drained

Taco seasoning to taste

Chicken broth or water if needed

Directions:

1. Add salsa, beans, and taco seasoning to crockpot. Mix to combine. Add broth or water if your salsa isn't wet enough.

2. Add chicken. Turn on low for 8 hours. 

3. Shred chicken. 

4. Serve as chicken taco filling, burrito filling, chimichanga filling.

Janelle's Chicken (or Porkchop)

This is such an easy and tasty chicken for an evening where you are short on time.

Ingredients:
Chicken or Pork
Wondra Flour
Panko Crumbs
Salt
Pepper
Tony's Chachere seasoning
Olive Oil
Butter

Directions:
1. Pound the breasts thin and dredged them in Wondra flour and Panko crumbs mixed together with salt, freshly ground pepper and Tony's. 
2. Melt butter and olive oil in the frying pan and get the pan pretty hot before adding the chicken.  
3. Cook 2-4 min. on each side. 

Note: Sometimes I just use Wondra, sometimes just Panko. 

Easy roast beef (for sandwiches)

I made this roast this week. Adam and I really liked this and  it was so easy. We really liked it with the ciabatta rolls. 

Ingredients:

Beef round roast (any size for your family)

1 pkg. au jus

1 pkg. Italian dressing seasoning

Water

Ciabatta rolls

Cheese (Swiss, provolone or your favorite), optional

Directions:

1. Combine roast, 2 seasoning packages and enough water to cover at least 3/4 of the roast in crockpot. Set on low for 8 hrs.

2. Place shredded meat on roll with cheese. Dip into juices left in crockpot.

Note: make sure you have plenty of water so it is not too salty. You can always reduce on stovetop if it is too runny. 

Chad's Stuffed Tomatoes

So it has been awhile since we've added anything to our family's list of recipes.  I wanted to add a dish I made recently using another as a base and improvising a bit.  The result turned out well and easily serves 4.  We added a bit of steak to the meal, but it would go just as well with a variety of other items, to include a simple bed of lettuce or arugula.

Ingredients:

• 4 Med. Tomatoes
• 1 2 oz pkg of herb goat cheese
• 1/2 cup shaved parmesan reggiano plus a bit more for topping
• 1 cup quinoa (cooked)
• Small handful of chopped parsley
• Small handful of chopped basil
• 2 (or more) cloves garlic, pressed
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the quinoa.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, cut a 1 1/2 to 2 in hole in the top of each tomato and hollow out the insides (the less moisture the better, but really focus on the seed area).  Salt the insides to taste and set aside in a baking pan (I use a ceramic pie plate).
3. Chop your parsley and basil.
4. Place the goat cheese in a small to medium mixing bowl and add in the 1/2 cup of parmesan reggiano.
5. Add the warm to hot quinoa.
6. Add the parsley, basil, garlic, salt and pepper.
7. Mix well.
8. Spoon 1/4 of the mixture into each tomato.
9. Bake at 375 for ~20 minutes.
10. Top each with the left-over parmesan reggiano.
11. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.
12. Serve warm.

Frankly, there are a ton of variations on this (different cheese, add spinach, replace the quinoa with bread crumbs, etc. etc.), but this was really good.

Lulu's Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

I found this recipe on Pinterest and the original post is from here. I made some modifications. Adam and I love it! We both agree it's definitely creamy, so we usually pair it with a hearty biscuit or bread. We added way more veggies than the original recipe. I've used heavy cream instead of milk  before (what I had on hand)  and I think it's good, but would be just as good as regular milk. We ate this for leftovers and it was just as good. 

 According to the comments on the original blog, you can make it in the crockpot. After reading through the comments here's some adjustments: saute the onion and garlic beforehand (maybe add the flour at the end?), lessen the liquid, cook on low for 6 hrs., and add milk & cheese at the very end (cook no more than 30 minutes with the dairy). 

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 celery stick, finely chopped (I did NOT add this, as I hate celery, but if you like it, add it)

1 -2 cloves, crushed garlic

4 cups chicken broth 

4 red potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

1 head of chopped broccoli

1/2 head of large cauliflower

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese, or your favorite cheese (I used Colby Jack)

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large soup pot. 

2. Add onions and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.

3. Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes.  

4. Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender. 

5. Add broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Cook until tender. 

6. Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened. (I simmered for a while to thicken). 

7. Add milk and cook until soup is barely heated through. 

8. Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve. (Make sure you do NOT boil, this will affect the texture of the soup.)

Josie's Oatmeal Carmelita Bars

From Josie: I made these for a co-workers birthday and they really are delicious.  And easy!  Ingredients 

• 2 cups All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups butter, melted (4 sticks)
• 1 jar caramel ice cream topping (Smucker’s or Hershey)
• ¼ cup Flour
• 1 pkg. semisweet chocolate chips (I use dark chocolate chips)

Instructions 1.    Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch pan. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and melted butter; mix until crumbly. Reserve 1/3 of crumb mixture for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture in bottom of greased pan.

2.    Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine caramel topping and ¼ cup flour; blend well.

3.    Sprinkle crust with chocolate chips. Drizzle evenly with caramel mixture; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

4.    Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown (I had to bake it for 30 min.) Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until filling is set. Cut into bars.