Salad Dressings

This post was inspired by my friend Jennifer who is starting to change her eating habits! She is totally inspiring! We have salad nearly every night before our dinner, as a "first course" so to speak. A large helping of salad fills us with nothing but the best, and a large portion will curb overeating in the "next course".
Here are some of our family favorites for salad dressing:

Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c white wine vinegar
1/4 c honey
1/4 tsp paprika
1 T poppy seeds
2-3 T pureed strawberries or raspberries
1/4 t basil
Blend all ingredients except poppy seeds in high-powered blender. Add seeds and pulse a few times.

This dressing is great for green salads with fruit in it (mandarin oranges with nuts and seeds, apples/raisins/pumpkin seeds, etc.)

Also, it makes a lot of dressing, so feel free to half it/quarter it, etc. This applies to all of the dressing recipes!

Maple Syrup Dressing
3/4 c extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c red wine vinegar
6 T maple syrup
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 c brown mustard
1/4 yellow or white onion
1/2 t garlic powder
Blend all in high powered blender until smooth.

Basil Parmesan Vinaigrette
1/2-3/4 c fresh basil leaves
1 c extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
3 T white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t sea salt
Blend all ingredients in high powered blender. Let sit in the fridge at least 2 hours to meld flavors.

Basic Salad Dressing
1 c extra virgin olive oil
2 T unrefined flaxseed oil
1/4 c vinegar (either raw apple cider, red wine or balsamic)
1 T Dijon mustard
***You can also add either 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped herbs (parsley, oregano, thyme), sundried tomatoes and green onion, substitute some walnuts for part of the oil (this makes it creamy) OR add tomatoes & basil.
Blend in high powered blender until smooth

Favorite Dressing for sweet salads....
1/2 c honey
1/2 c raw apple cider vinegar
1 c extra virgin olive oil
1 T mustard
1 t sea salt
1 small red onion, cut into fourths
1 T poppy seeds
Blend all ingredients except poppy seeds in high powered blender until smooth. Add seeds and pulse a few times.



All of these dressings come from Green Smoothie Girl's recipe collection! Check her out!

Crock Pot Spanish Quinoa

This recipe was originally inspired by my sister-in-law, Christian. She has a spanish rice recipe that is super yummy, and I thought that it might be fun to make with quinoa for a different consistency. I found this in my new cookbook, and knew I had found a new favorite recipe with a little bit of tweaking. My hubby raved about it multiple times that night and the next day. Soooo, here ya go!

Spanish Quinoa
2 T olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
3 c water
1 1/2 c quinoa, rinsed well
2 T vegetable broth powder
1/2 small can tomato paste
1 t salt
1/2 t chili powder
optional ingredients: 3/4 c black beans, 1 c frozen or fresh corn, 1/4 c fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Heat oil in skillet and saute onion for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and pepper and saute another 3-5 minutes.

Combine saueteed vegetables, water, quinoa, broth powder, tomato paste, salt and chili powder in crockpot. Stir until paste is mixed into the liquid. You can add optional black beans and corn. Cook on high for 1 1/2-2 hours until quinoa has unfurled. Garnish with optional cilantro.

*Note-I double this recipe because I love leftovers!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Happy New Year! I'm back!

I have some super fun recipes that will save you time and money! Who here uses canned tomatoes regularly??????? Anyone?

How about potatoes?

Yep, that's affirmative on both counts at our house! My dearest friend gave me a new cookbook for Christmas. It's a vegan crockpot cookbook, and I LOVE IT! There were a few short cuts in the book that I'm super excited about, having already tried them out!

First of all, I found tomatoes for super cheap last summer...like $6 for a bushel. I'd heard you could throw the tomatoes in your freezer whole, so I did that with as many tomatoes as I had room for, but this year will be different! Cheap, diced tomatoes! All you need is a crockpot, some freezer bags, and of course, TOMATOES! All you do is rinse your tomatoes, dice and fill up your crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3 hours.

I have a crockpot with a timer, and it shuts off after the time is up, so I set it for 3 hours on high just before I go to bed. In the morning the tomatoes are cooked and cooled enough to put in bags. I freeze in 3 cup portions, equal to 2 cans of diced tomatoes. I promise you, your chili, sauces, soups taste so much better with locally home grown tomatoes then store bought!

Now, for potatoes! Scrub down your potatoes (regular or sweet potatoes) and place in crockpot (if you work, scrub the night before, place in your crockpot and turn on just before you leave for work). In 6-8 hours, low heat, you have absolutely perfect baked potatoes! Top regular potatoes with leftover chili, or have a baked potato bar. Sweet potatoes can be topped with butter, cinnamon and honey or agave nectar for a fun treat! Mmmmm!!!

Foods That Cause Breast Cancer?????

Yep. Complete with research to back it up. Guess what #1 is? Sugar. Great reminder to me as I pass York Peppermint Patties or Reese's PB cups this time of year... I'm determined to learn how to make healthier treats for my family and to be extra firm when asking folks to not offer sugar to my children. Their health is so precious to me!

Read all about it here.

Potato Garbanzo Curry

1 1⁄2 C dry garbanzo beans (chickpeas) 
1 C brown rice, uncooked
4 C water
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 
1 tsp. cinnamon
1⁄4 tsp. cloves
1⁄2 tsp. allspice
4 C chopped new (red) potatoes 
2 C vegetable broth, click here for vegetable broth powder recipe
1⁄2 C water
1 tsp. sea salt
1⁄2 C organic peanut butter (no rapeseed oil or corn syrup/sugar added) 
2 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste
1⁄4 C molasses

Rinse and drain the garbanzo beans and brown rice together, and then soak them in water overnight and then drain well. Bring 4 C water to a boil, add the garbanzos and rice, then reduce the heat and simmer for 50 to 60 minutes until the water is absorbed.
Sauté the onions in the oil until tender, add the spices and potatoes, and sauté together briefly. Add the vegetable broth, 1⁄2 C water, and salt. Simmer until potatoes are tender (about 30 minutes). 

Add the garbanzos and rice, peanut butter, curry paste, and molasses and heat through. Serve hot. 

Sit back and enjoy all the unique flavors. It's different, but very satisfying!

Thanksgiving

Woooo Hoooo for Thanksgiving! Our family usually does the same thing every year: stress stress stress and then head to my sister's house for grub, gossip and yawning after stuffing ourselves silly. :) No, really, it's a lot of fun, but our family hasn't had a Thanksgiving (that was PLANNED) with just us. At our house. So, much to the chagrin of some of my family members, we opted against the "status quo" and stayed home. We let each of the kids pick a dish that they wanted to make, and it was absolutely delightful! We didn't go overboard, didn't have a "set time" to eat and just enjoyed each other, learned how to set the table properly together, played games and went at  our own pace. 

And I got to do something that I love: COOK! 

Our turkey was the best we've ever had! I will do a separate post on that, along with a new trick we learned on how to peel a whole bunch of garlic in 20 seconds.  No joke!

Here are a few recipes that we LOVED this year:

Okay, isn't this picture beautiful? I love the colors!!!

 

Cranberry Sauce:
2 clementines
12 oz fresh cranberries
1/3 c agave nectar
1 cinnamon stick
With a zester or fine grater, remove 1/2 t zest from the clementines and set aside. Peel the clementines and chop the flesh coarsely, discarding any seeds. Place in a saucepan and add cranberries, agave, cinnamon and 2 T water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, and then lower the heat, simmering. Stir occasionally until cranberries pop open and sauce thickens. (Kids love to listen to the berries pop.) Remove from heat and stir in zest. Discard the cinnamon sticks and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for up to a week.

Pear Hazelnut Salad
1/2 c hazelnuts
3 c or more of mixed greens
2 pears, cored and cut into thing wedges
1/2 c crumbled blue cheese (optional)-we decided we didn't care for blue cheese!

Preheat oven to 375. Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until lightly golden, 10-12 minutes. Wrap nuts in clean dish towel and rub together to remove skins. Set aside to cool and then chop. Make salad by combining remaining ingredients and tossing with 2 T olive oil, 1 t Dijon mustard, 1 T white wine vinegar, 1/4 t sea salt and a bit of cracked pepper.


Sourdough Stuffing
1 loaf sourdough hearth bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 T coconut oil
3/4 lb-or less- fresh chicken sausage, removed from the casings
4 Gala apples, cored and diced
4 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 large onion, diced
2 T organic butter
2 1/2 c vegetable broth
1/3 c fresh sage leaves, chopped
3/4 t sea salt
1/2 t ground pepper

Preheat oven to 300. Spread bread cubes on 2 baking sheets and bake until dried but not browned, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
Meanwhile heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat and add sausage. Break into chunks and cook until browned. Add apples, celery, onion and butter and cook until vegetables are softened. Add to the bread along with remaining ingredients. Heat oven to 350 and bake in a butter dish until lightly browned on top, about 50-60 minutes.
***This is our family's new FAVORITE! YUM!

Sweet Potatoes
***warning: no measurements here...we just put stuff in until it tasted good!
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into chunks. Cover with water and boil until tender.
Combine with organic butter, canned coconut milk (to desired consistency), cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, sea salt (a little bit!), maple syrup, agave nectar. Use a hand mixer to whip together. They were so yummy, we couldn't get enough!

 Thanks to my sister who introduced me to Leftover casserole: layer your Thanksgiving leftovers in a casserole dish to eat the next night for dinner. Oh, it is so yum! This one is layers of the following: stuffing, turkey, a bit of gravy, a bit of cranberry sauce, green beans and sweet potatoes. Mmmmmmm!!!! Bake at 350 until bubbly.

Pumpkin Chocolate Cake

Ooooo la la!!! Delicious.
Wanna know how to do it? First of all, make your own pumpkin pie spice to have on hand-it makes your spice cabinet smell really good, if for nothing else. :)

• 8 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Now, here's the rest!

Pumpkin Chocolate Cake
1/4 cup coconut oil, in it's liquid state (just warm it a bit!)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder or raw powdered cacao
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder, aluminum free
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sucanut
2 eggs (or 1/2 banana, 1/2 apple and a little bit more baking powder blended well)
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an (8-inch) square baking pan with coconut oil or cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, eggs (or substitute), pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until well combined then transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake until the cakes pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes.
And folks, I'm so sorry I've been so lax in taking pictures. Either it's gone super fast, or I am just too busy to think about it. But trust me: I only post things on here that we REALLLLLLYYYYY like!