Cold Buster Broth

The cold season has hit and after too many days of coughing and sneezing and stuffy heads, we started fighting back with this.  It feels healthy alllll the way down to your toes!

Cut top of one head of garlic and rub in some olive oil.  Wrap the garlic in foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 400 degrees or until garlic is soft.  Let cool and then pop all of the garlic cloves out of their skins.

Meanwhile, slice one to two onions and grate 1/4 to 1/2 cup of fresh ginger (I found that if you slice it you end up with woody strings in your soup).  Peel 26 cloves of raw garlic (or use the prechopped stuff...I did this because the cold was kicking my butt and I didn't have enough energy to peel that much garlic!). 

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add onion, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.  Cook until onions are translucent (about six minutes).  Add roasted and raw garlic and cook another three minutes. 

Add 3 1/2 cups veggie or chicken broth, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.  Puree soup in a blender or with a stick blender until smooth.  Add 1/2 cup coconut milk (I only had coconut water one time I made this and it turned out fine).  You can either squeeze a slice of lemon into each serving or squeeze one whole lemon into the entire batch.  I forgot lemons at the store, but I have a bunch of limes, so I'm going to try two or three limes instead of a lemon and see how it goes.

The soup is pretty strong.  My husband enjoys it that way, but me and the kids, not so much.  I do about a half a mug of soup and then fill the rest of the mug with more chicken broth.  It's still intense but tasty and helped us feel better!

Serve hot.  You can store the soup for a day or two in the fridge.

Pecan Pie Energy Balls

I got a Thermomix for Christmas. Having been diagnosed with high blood pressure last year, I have had to make a lot of dietary changes ... basically needing to make EVERYTHING (processed) from scratch. I kept thinking that a Thermomix would really help me do that! I was given the opportunity to borrow one from a friend for a few weeks to see they are really all that they are touted to be. They are ... and more! And now, one lives in my kitchen. I'm still learning how to use it to it's full capacity but I use it A LOT!

 

One thing I've been wanting to make is energy balls and when I saw a few recipes for Pecan Pie flavoured ones, I HAD to try them.  (I didn't use any one recipe but a  combination of a few.) I've made these a few times since!!  They are amazing.  Or should I say amazeballs? You know, since they are balls ... No?  Ok ... forget I said that.

Now ... you don't need a Thermomix to make these.  You could totally make them in a food processor. (You might want to do the nuts and dates separately and then add everything else?)

Thermomix measures in grams (right in the machine!!) so I'll put the measurements in grams ... sorry, you'll just have to grab out your kitchen scales!

350g pitted dates

65g rolled oats

30g pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract (I use my homemade vanilla)

1 tsp cinnamon

180g pecans

Chuck them all in the Thermomix together ... 12 seconds on speed 7. 

Roll them into balls.  

And that's it!!

Keep in fridge.  Not that they keep very long ... they get gobbled up pretty quick in this house!

Sundried Tomato Hummus

We went to visit some family a few months ago and my sister in law served the most amazing hummus that I've ever eaten.  It was sundried tomato hummus and she just made it up.  I asked her to list out the ingredients to the best of her recollection and I've been playing with it since.  This last batch I made was the closest but still not as amazing as hers!  But .... I like it well enough to share and well enough that I'll make it this way from now on. 
 

Don't be alarmed by the vague measurements, just taste as you go.  Put into a food processor the following ingredients.

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), 2 cans, drained
Garlic, 4 cloves, roughly chopped  (more or less, depending on who garlicky you like things)
Juice of one small lemon
Honey, 1 teaspoon
Sun dried tomato, I used a small jar (again, adjust to taste)

Some but not all of the oil in the jar of SD tomatoes
Soy sauce, start with 2 teaspoons and adjust to taste.  I did end up adding a bit more the other night.
Sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons (and you got it ... adjust to taste)

Whiz it up in the food processor.  I let it go for a few minutes until everything is pretty well smooth.  There were a few small chunks left in mine.  I didn't mind.  You can adjust that to your preference.  Taste it, if you think it needs salt, add a little bit more soy sauce.  Whiz a bit more. 

Serve with crackers of your choice.  I used plain and seaweed rice crackers.

Grilled Salmon Salad

The wonderful thing about Salmon is that all four of us love it.

The same with salad.  Salmon and salad together ... for our family ... it's a match made in heaven!

This salad was such a hit!
I found this recipe on Pinterest and used it as our base recipe.
I added some stuff, changed the type of cheese and served it differently though ...

Oh, and I changed the measurements because I wanted it to serve four instead of two.

500g fresh salmon
6 cups fresh spinach and rocket (arugula)
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
thin slices of red onion, as little or as much as you like
fetta cheese, to top salad
croutons, to top salad

dressing:
1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar (I didn't measure and may have used a heaped teaspoon!)
3 or 4 small garlic cloves, crushed
pinch of salt and pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Throw all of the dressing ingredients into a glass jar with a lid ... shake it up.  Add additional salt to taste.

Grill salmon.  Rory did ours on the BBQ with a bit of olive oil and salt/pepper. 

Combine all salad ingredients in large salad bowl.  Top with grilled salmon, chopped into large chunks.  Drizzle with dressing.

Homemade Energy Bars

I love a good bar.  Since I made the big switch to exercising more and eating less I've looked for a good mid morning snack option. I tried several different bars, some I liked, some I didn’t. So we decided to make our own. 

Here is a recipe that you can as a base and experiment from there. The possibilities are endless.

Preheat oven to 325 F or 160 C 

Wet Ingredients:

1-1/2 bananas, or pumpkin, mashed 

3/4 cup light syrup, or honey, or agave nectar, or any combination you like.  

1/4 cup juice– I use orange/banana/pineapple juice; orange juice is fine

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 egg whites

Dry Ingredients:

3-1/2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup protein powder– we used vanilla flavor

1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup assorted nuts– we have used almonds, pecans, soy nuts, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds. 

1/2 cup dried fruit– we have used a number of combinations of cranberries, dates, and golden raisins, use what you like! 

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips– these are not necessarily a healthful option, but we like them, a lot. 

In separate bowls mix the wet and dry ingredients. Pour the wet bowl into the dry bowl and mix thoroughly. Really mix it. You don’t want any protein powder bits not mixed up. 

After it is mixed well, drop portions onto a pre-greased cookie sheet. Depending on the size you make the amount of calories will vary. I use a 1/4 cup and this makes around 20-22. I shape them into a bar shape with a couple of butter knives and bake them for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges turn a nice brown color. 

Take the bars out of the oven and place on a cooling rack. They will be soft, but as they cool they will firm up. We put a batch in tupperware before they cooled all the way and this was a mistake. Wait till they are cool! 

Delicious! tastes even better around 10:30 a.m. when your belly is empty! 

Depending on what you put in them and how you portion them, they have a calorie count of around 200, with almost 9 grams of protein. (using the 1/4 cup)

Enjoy. 

Ryan 

Homemade Sugar Free Crock Pot Apple Sauce !

This was so simple. So easy. And is so delicious.

I gave the kids a taste test and they immediately asked for a whole bowl !!

So ... here's what I did.

Ingredients:
4 Granny Smith Apples
6 Fuji Apples
8 Sundowner Apples
just under 1/2 cup of water
cinnamon

I used a combination of apples. Granny Smith because they cook well and add a nice texture. Fuji because they are my FAVORITE tasting apple. And Sundowner because they were cheap and the sign said they were sweet ... I'll bet you could use as many of any combination that you want and it would be delicious. Although, if you did ALL Granny Smith I think it might be a bit tart without the addition of sugar.

So, peel, core and quarter the apples. Actually ... you should core, peel and quarter them. I did them the other way (peeling first) and the apples were browning by the time I was ready to quarter them.

Throw 'em in the crock pot with the water and a sprinkle of cinnamon (to taste).

I turned mine on high for an hour and then turned it down to low. I checked after four hours on low, got a spoon in there and tried to scoop the bottom ones up to the top, and it was like I had used a potato masher on them. I just stirred them up, gave the kids a taste test and the rest ... well ... the rest is history.

I will make this time and time again. I'm so pleased !

Super Healthy Chicken-Vegetable Soup

Diets often equal bland, boring food...but the new diet that we've been exploring is MUCH better than normal and it works! (for those interested it's called the 17 day diet...there's a book).

I modified this soup recipe from one found in the diet book.

NOTE: I don't really measure the ingredients...just try and make a BIG pot of soup that's pretty balanced ingredients-wise.

Super Healthy (and YUMMY) Chicken-Vegetable Soup

Lightly salt and pepper 1 package of chicken breasts (we often use chicken breast tenders). Grill until just done (I think I do about 3 to 4 minutes per side). Dice into small chunks.

Large chop the following veggies: (large chopping the veggies make this soup super fast to throw together)
- 1/2 head of cabbage
- 3 to 5 large carrots
- 1/2 bag of frozen, chopped okra (I've discovered that not all frozen okra is alike...the okra from Safeway seemed slimier)
- 1 to 2 large onions
- 4 to 5 celery heart stalks with leaves
- 1 bulb of garlic (or less as desired...I leave them mostly whole...just slightly crush them)

Using approximately 1T of olive oil, I saute the garlic for 1 minute before adding the onions. Then add the carrots and celery and continue to saute for another couple of minutes. Add remaining veggies.

Add the following ingredients:
- 4 to 5 cans of chicken broth
- 2 cans of crushed tomatoes
- bit of white pepper (or pepper of choice)
- coriander, celery salt, and cumin to taste

Cover and bring to a boil then lower to a simmer. Simmer for one hour or until veggies are done to your liking.

Once the veggies are cooked, add the chicken.

We keep this soup in the fridge all week to have for lunches or snacks.

ENJOY!