Monday, June 30, 2014

Best Low Carb Dinner!

My Mom and I cooked dinner together tonight and it was BOMB.

I got to finally try one my friend Ally Smoot's family favorite Quinoa salad! It is sooo yummy. Seriously. I understand if you don't like quinoa, usually. But this is so flavorful and the avo and mango make it so delish. See for yourself!


Here is the recipe:

Summer Quinoa Salad

  • about 4 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1 can black beans (except I used Kidney beans which were equally as good)
  • 1 chopped red bell pepper 
  • 1 chopped mango
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 or 2 green onions (except I used about 1/2 of a red onion and I think that is better) 
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • Dressing:
  • 1 TB olive oil
  • 1 TB red wine vinegar
  • 3 TB lime juice
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
Combine everything together and serve! 


My Mom made this wonderful family favorite soup of ours called Savory Sausage Soup from Weight Watchers. So yummy! 
Here is the recipe:

  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 pound italian turkey sausage
  • 2 medium onions
  • 1 medium turnip, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 medium carrot, sliced
  • 1 medium celery stalk, sliced
  • 4 small new red potatoes, scrubbed, quartered
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 medium bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp dried sage
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 small head of cabbage chopped
  • 2 tsps cider vinegar, optional
Heat the oil in a non-stick saucepan, then add the sausage. Cook, breaking apart the sausage. Add the onions, turnip, celery and carrot. Cook until the sausage is browned. Stir in the potatoes, cabbage, broth, bay leaf, thyme, sage, and pepper; bring to a boil. Place the cabbage over the soup, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer until the potatoes and cabbage are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the vinegar to the soup, if desired, and discard the bay leaf. Serve. 


Saturday, June 28, 2014

Summer Foods

Summer Foods
A delicious summer salad! Isn't it pretty? It looks like a fiesta of veggies. Red onion (my new fave!) and feta cheese really make this salad good. Plus yellow AND red tomatoes as well as celery, cucumber, bell peppers...the usual. 

Gluten free pancakes! Made with Pamela's gluten free flour. You may have a previous impression that all gluten free items taste like cardboard, which I respect and understand. However, these really aren't too bad! Especially when beautifully arranged with strawberries, bananas, maple syrup and whipped cream. Although this may be white flour free, it isn't quite white sugar free...You have to pick your battles I think. 

These are lovely lemon cookies that are perfect for summer and taste like teatime at an English cottage in the sunshine. Yep. Find the recipe here

I SWEAR by this chocolate chip cookie recipe I found on Pinterest. It produces PERFECTION cookies! Whatever you do, DON'T add more flour even though you will probably think it needs more after everything is added. Find the recipe here
There is honestly nothing better than homemade strawberry lemonade. And since I have the highly esteemed privilege of being in a home that has a Vitamix (at least for the summer....not having one for 6+ months has made me thank my lucky stars for this blessed blender designed by the gods), I literally just threw in about a cup of hulled strawberries, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of lemon juice and a bunch of water and blended it all up! And boom. Ice cubes in the glass, happiness in my mouth. And isn't that jar just ADORABLE?! Me and my mom are in love with it. 


ALSO, I tried a yummy recipe my sister Katie gave me for crockpot meatloaf that is delicious served with garlic mashed potatoes! But I didn't take a PICTURE of it! I was so mad. But it was so good! Here is the recipe, with some additions I made: 

Grandma’s Saucy Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 cup quick oats
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup dried minced onion
Topping:
1 1/3 cup ketchup
2 T brown sugar
2 T mustard

In a large bowl, combine beef, oats, egg, milk, pepper, and onion.
Shape into a loaf and place in a greased 2 1/2 to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker.
Mix together ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard. Spread 1/2 of the sauce over top.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.
Heat up remaining 1/2 of the sauce in the microwave and add extra to each serving as needed. 



Thursday, June 26, 2014

Fancy chicken and beans

Courtesy of my sister Christina Pendleton who gave me the ideas/recipes, I made this delicious meal for dinner tonight!

Strawberry Balsamic Chicken and Caramelized Green Beans! 

Here is a close up. 

My mom said that "the green beans are heavenly!" 
The recipe is from "Our Best Bites". Here is the recipe, altered a little by moi :) 
Caramelized Green Beans
1 lb. (actually, just a little bit more…maybe 1 1/8 lb.) fresh green beans
A large handful of crumbled bacon bits
1/2 red onion, sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (I just used 4 teaspoons minced garlic)
olive oil
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Start boiling a large pot of water. Place beans in a colander and rinse them well. Then snap the ends off and snap them in half.
Prepare the sauce by mixing sugar, soy sauce, and salt in a small bowl.
Make sure your onions are sliced, garlic is pressed  and everything is ready to go.
 Just use some olive oil and heat pan to medium-high heat. When the pan is hot…
Add onions and garlic. Give them a quick stir and then…
Add beans to boiling water. Place colander in a clean sink. Boil for one minute; you’re not cooking them until they’re done, just blanching them to take the edge off. Meanwhile, stir the onions and garlic so they don’t scorch. After one minute, drain beans in the colander in the sink.
Once beans have been drained, add them to the onions and garlic. Stir fry 2-3 more minutes.
Give your sauce a quick stir and then pour on top of the beans. Keep stir-frying until the beans get kind of glazy. Stir fry for another 2 minutes.
Add crumbled bacon and lots of freshly-ground pepper to the beans. Keep stir frying until the sauce sticks to the beans and the bacon. Transfer to a serving dish and allow to stand a few minutes so the beans cool down a bit and the glaze thickens up a little.
Serve immediately.

Check out the recipe for the chicken at Christina's blog, http://christinascookinupcrafts.blogspot.com/ 


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

No White Diet

I'm baaaack! I thought I had given up on this blog. But I love food too much to not tell people about it. It's hilarious to look back at my 10 posts from 2012. That was only 2 years ago and yet it was 2 years ago! If you know what I mean. Time flew by and yet I don't feel any older in some ways. C'est la vie.

Also, funny that I stopped my "2012 Cupcake Craze" challenge that I gave myself after about 3 recipes in. Woops.

So. I am home for the summer from BYU and my mom is supposed to try a "No White Diet"that should be an anti-inflammatory diet to help arthritis. My dad is instructed by his doctors to have a very low carb diet for health reasons in general. SO.... I'm trying new foods and recipes that have no white sugar, no white flour, and are low in carbs. 


And here's what I got so far!


Veggie egg scramble



Basically just eggs, tomatoes, bell peppers, white onion, and celery. Topped with feta cheese and garnished with a dollop of sour cream and cilantro, served with avocado and watermelon :) YUM! 

On another note, vegan chocolate chip cookies from Trader Joe's are THE BOMB! As well as European style chocolate yogurt (best with no mix-ins though).