Hearty Fall Crock Pot Vegetable Soup

Crisp fall air just screams for soup that warms your whole body. It is beautiful during this season, the leaves all up and down my street are so colorful...the only problem is...the bugs are trying to come inside for the winter! Seriously they are everywhere!

 

But one thing I look forward to is soup, soup and more soup...maybe a few bread bowls thrown in there. In the past most of my soups contained a lot of cream and cheese. If I'm going for creamy soup I try to stick to a cashew cream sauce base instead of cream cheese!

Soup is so diverse also since you can use almost anything you have on hand and usually turn up with a great tasting creation! That's what happened with this hearty vegetable soup. It was delicious and I used vegetables I just had in my fridge. It was so simple and may entire family devoured it. I made some homemade garlic biscuits to go with it and it was a very filling meal. I made this soup in the crock pot but you could easily do this on the stove top if you wanted to! Enjoy--this is sure to warm you up and make your stomach's very happy!

 

Fall Vegetable Soup

 

3 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 large carrots chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 head cauliflower

1 c fresh or frozen peas

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 c vegetable or chicken broth (low sodium)

2 c water

1 T Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

 

Heat small amount of olive oil  to a skillet add chopped onion. Saute for about 7 minutes over med-high heat, add garlic. Saute together another 2 min. Reduce heat to medium and add all remaining vegetables. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until the potatoes begin to get somewhat soft and onions are translucent (this sauteing is what really pops the flavor). Meanwhile add tomatoes, broth and water to a crock pot. Add seasonings to skillet over the vegetables. Add vegetables to the crock pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4 hours! You can mash the potatoes against the side of the crock pot once cooked to thicken it up! Enjoy

 

 

 

 

Remember our Ebook has recently been put out, don't miss out on your chance to win a Professional Grade Ninja Blender, all you need to do is buy our Ebook for $3.99 and you're in the running! Here is the link to the prizes

 

It's a PARTY! GRAND PRIZE

This morning has been a blast, thank you for all who have had fun with us and who have purchased the book! I hope everyone entered into each prize category, you are going to want a shot at all of them!

I hope you all enjoy our Ebook, it was written with the concern for helping others in mind! Now onto the grand prize...I know it's what everyone has been waiting for!

The grand prize is......

A PROFESSIONAL NINJA BLENDER!

Say What?!?!?! Yes, a professional blender. When you live a whole food diet a great blender is essential! I want to help someone get started on a whole food journey by giving them this amazing blender! This blender is a $100 value and it is amazing. I've had one myself. It will chop nuts, apples, oranges, whatever you'd like and it comes with a one year warranty!

How do you get your hands on this awesome toy? Well, head on over to the book links and purchase the book for only $3.99!
Inside the book you'll find awesome recipes that well....use a blender! So you'll have your knew guide to whole food living and hopefully you'll have your new blender in tow as well!

The PDF downloadable version can be found here

www.healthyhappybudget.com 

And if you are a Kindle owner head on over to here

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NNHSDW

if you will --if you buy from Amazon, please leave a review at  your convienience.

We are still working on the Nook and the iPad, it takes some time to publish with these, but they will be available shortly!

Thank you for enjoying our launch party of "The Healthy Happy Family" it means so much to us! Enjoy the book, and please feel free to email us with any questions you may have!

healthyhappybudget@gmail.com

 

Remember these prizes are all open until Oct.26, so don't worry if you missed Launch Day!

Eat Yourself Healthy and Happy

* All of these prizes were purchased with my own money to be used in this giveaway. The manufacturers are not involved or did not give these to me for free *

be sure to check out all the giveaway prizes here, here and here 

It's a PARTY part 2- Super Cool Prize

Wow, this day just keeps getting better and better! It feels like a real party going on...who doesn't love giveaways?

I'm so passionate about what this book represents, I know that it can benefit ANYONE! Yes, anyone in any situation! We priced it so low because, we want to spread the news so I'm so grateful for everyone who has come out and joined our party today, you are doing so much good for your own health and for those around you!

Now onto the super cool prize- I may fight the winner for these...they are that adorable! The super cool prize is a full set of Trudeau measuring cups! These aren't your typical boring measuring cups, they are styled like mini mixing bowls....ahhhh I think I love them, seriously so cute.

Onto the rules, all you need to do to be entered into this fun prize is head on over to the side bar of the blog and click LIKE ME ON FACEBOOK! Pretty easy right! So get on over there and get clicking and these cuties could be yours! If you have already liked me on face book...leave me a comment either on the facebook page on this link, or leave a comment on the bottom!

"One of the most important things to remember is that you only have to encourage. Don't force this lifestyle upon anyone. Really young kids may put up a fight for the first several times you stick a plate of broccoli in front of them, but they quickly adapt. It has been shown that it takes eight to ten times of introducing a food to a child for them to actually like it. It is so important to not give up. After you've tried and tried multiple times, give the food and your child a break. They really may not like it. Even though neither of us likes tomatoes, we still give them to our kids and keep trying them ourselves, hoping one day we will enjoy them." pg. 17

How many of you are tired of the battles with your kids about eating their dinner and especially eating healthy food choices? Well we have been there, and somedays we are still there with our kids. We have given multiple strategies that are simple but effective for young kids to love their healthy food! We know they work because they've worked for us with two very different personalities of children! They can work for you too!

Book Links:

 
www.healthyhappybudget.com PDF

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NNHSDW Kindle Version

be sure and check out the cool prize and enter here



It's a PARTY!!! Part 1- Cool Prize

Welcome to the Ebook launch of "The Healthy Happy Family" I can't tell you how excited we are! This has been a long road and it has been an exciting one!

So to celebrate this amazing book we are going to be having a massive giveaway day! These prizes will stay open  until October 26! The winners will be announced on October 28, giving everyone plenty of time to enter. You can enter into all the drawings...and who knows you may just walk away with more than one prize...it's all selected at random! Each post will be a prize, be sure and read them all leading up to the GRAND PRIZE! Each post will also give an excerpt from the book....and tell you a little bit more about our baby

Should we get this party started?!?!? I agree

Cool Prize: The cool prize is awesome. Some of my favorite things to use in our whole foods kitchen...Ground Flax Seed and Chia Seed!

I use these babies for everything...egg replacers, I mix them into breads, jams, smoothies salads and they both provide a tremendous amount of nutrients without even tasting a difference!

Rules for the cool prize....leave me a comment saying what your favorite way to use flax or chia seeds are! Now if you have a preference between which one you'd like...specify! There will be two winners of the cool prize.
One for the Flax one for the chia....so get writing!

-
"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around one-third of adults in the U.S. are obese. Obesity invites so many different conditions including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, strokes and certain types of cancer – all leading causes in death. The saturated fat associated with fast foods, red meats and cheeses are a leading culprit of heart disease. Did you know heart disease was not a common occurrence a little over a century ago? In some parts of the world today, there is little to no heart disease. Yet, in the U.S., heart disease is the leading cause of death." pg. 6

 We felt it to be very important to give a good explanation about the importance of great health. Sometimes when you are able to visualize something it really helps it sink in more! We share an amazing story about the country of Norway in the beginning of book, it really gets you're mind thinking!

Alright leave your comments for the Cool prize and we'll get started!


Links for the book:
www.healthyhappybudget.com PDF

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NNHSDW  kindle version

It's a PARTY! Part 3- Super Duper Prize

Things are getting really exciting by now. I hope all of you have made your way over to our website to really learn about the book and what it is all about, this short Ebook will be a great addition to your digital library!

Well as we get closer to the GRAND PRIZE we have one more step...the SUPER DUPER prize! This one is fun and it will help you out when your mixing up delicious food for you, your roommates, or your family!

I love color, and these mixing bowls sure bring some color the meal! I'm also throwing in a set of wire wisks to put these mixing bowls to good use! Again these are brand new, I just wanted to show you how cute they were so I removed the wrapping~

The rules for the super duper prize: You must like the facebook page (if you haven't already)...here's the difference, on the face book page (click right there)  there will be a link to the book, I would like you to share that link on your own facebook page, not the like button! Make sense? It's easy there is always a share button after each post, just click it and your golden. I will track the shares so it's easy to see who does it! That is the entry fee to the super duper prize!

"Fruits and vegetables should not be on the backburner of your plate; ideally, they should be your plate. It's okay to serve up a plateful of greens and have a salad for your meal instead of as a side. If you top your salads with nuts or seeds, avocado, other green vegetables and some beans, you have given yourself a filling, healthy and well-balanced meal." pg 7 

One of the easiest ways to increase your health is to add more produce! I call it the produce revolution. These amazing foods (fruits and vegetables) are excellent defenses against disease! Add a green smoothie to your morning routine instead of cold cereal, eat cucumbers, grapes and carrot sticks instead processed crackers or granola bars! You get the idea! It will do wonders and you WILL feel a difference.

Book Links

www.healthyhappybudget.com PDF


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NNHSDW Kindle Version


be sure and check out the cool prize and super cool prize here and here

Skinny Banana Bread

Myth about whole foods:

Your food will never taste like the "normal" recipe does when you adapt it for whole food natural living!

NOT TRUE! I can't tell you how many awesome recipes I've been able to adapt to fit my lifestyle of whole food, healthy living! It is an amazing journey when you start, to feel your body actually love you for what you are putting into it...that feeling of happiness grows even more when you see your family love everything they are eating also! It's amazing.

So if you think you will be sacrificing taste and delicious comfort food to eat healthy, whole and natural...I'm going to prove you wrong with this revamp of my comforting banana bread! It was amazing! I made it for my husband who requested banana bread. Well the night I made it, he worked late. The kids and I slaved and slaved, then probably ate half the loaf (yes you read that right)  and then I tucked the rest away nicely for my husband to enjoy for breakfast and while he was in class!

When I got home from work the next day I asked him if he liked his banana bread, because it was all gone. He said he didn't even get ONE PIECE! I laughed so hard, between my kids and our babysitter the next morning they ate the rest of the loaf of banana bread! It lasted less than 24 hours!

So I promised I'll make it again soon for the hubs...

If you want a guiltless loaf of banana bread this is your lucky day! Originally this recipe contains 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 a cup of shortening! Yikes! This baby needed a makeover...Enjoy, I know you'll love it

Skinny Banana Bread

3/4-1 c raw stevia

2 T vegan margarine

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

2 flax eggs- (2 T ground flax + 6 T warm water ) I also added about 1/4 tsp chia seed

3 ripened bananas, mashed

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour (or any flour you'd like)

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1 tsp baking soda

2-3 T dark chocolate chips or nuts of choice

Cream together margarine and stevia, slowly add applesauce and continue to cream. Add flax eggs and mix well. Add bananas, mix well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Fold together well. Place in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until golden and fork comes clean (your house will smell amazing!)

Enjoy

It's time!

This week is the week!

 

We are releasing our Ebook this Friday Oct. 12!

 

 

 

 

I can't believe that it is really time to put our hard work out there! I am so excited and feel so passionate about what we have written I want to share it with everyone!

 

Why would you want to buy this book? Well think about these questions...

 

 

Do you worry about your children's health because of the standard diet?

 

Have you ever been at a loss on how to feed young children healthy?

 

Do you think that eating truly whole and natural is too expensive?

 

Do you think that eating healthy consists of eating birdseed?

 

Do you want to improve your overall health and your family's?

 

Do you want to cut back on doctor visits?

 

Have you wondered where fitness really fits in?

 

If you have thought or wondered any of these we discuss it in the book and much more! I may have been MIA the last little while on the blog because this book has been so important to me. I want it to go smoothly so I have been making sure that it will!

 

Here are some awesome reasons to be surfing this blog on Friday...

 

1. You get to buy a super cheap Ebook with a wealth of health knowledge
2. There are going to be awesome prize drawings
3. You have the opportunity to gain valuable information to change your family's health and your own!

 

Thank you for all the support we've been given from everyone! I can't wait for Friday! Spread the word

 

The Grand Prize by the way is going to be a $100 value! So make sure you get entered...details to come on Friday! Get out there and tell your friends and family...Their health and happiness means something too right?

Spaghetti Squash Vegan Alfredo

I've been thinking lately about how many people I've come in contact with that are choosing gluten free for health or because they have an allergy. My mom has Celiac disease so I'm very familiar with gluten free living, and now my sister has put my nephew on a gluten free diet. My cute little nephew is lactose intolerant as well and still having some tummy issues so the doctor suggested gluten free. 

Tonight's dinner was made with my cute nephew in mind. Dairy free and gluten free! I wasn't sure how my kids would like tonight's dinner...I kept waiting to see if they could tell that these noodles weren't quite the same. Well the end result....I think they could tell but that didn't stop them. To my surprise my son ate better than my daughter and the last few weeks it's been like pulling teeth to get him to actually eat what I put in front of him and not play with it!

This is a thick alfredo sauce...it isn't conventional alfredo sauce, but it still tasted rich and creamy even though it was vegan. I typically try and stick with a very natural whole food diet, but every once in awhile I'll add some of these mixes. We used Tofutti products, they are dairy free, but still processed so not so whole foods I'd say. But they have much less fat than regular cream cheese...pick your battles!

I want to include a step by step guide for preparing the "spaghetti" of the squash if you're unfamiliar with it...it is so simple!

1. Poke holes in the squash with large fork or knife

2. Bake in the oven for 1 hour at 375 degrees

3. Cut the squash in half lengthwise

4. take out seeds with a fork

5. With the fork shred the sides of the squash until all the noodley squash is out! 

And your done!

It is one of the easiest squash to cut and prepare in my opinion, it just takes some time to bake!

Well how about that sauce recipe then huh?

3-4 T vegan cream cheese

1-2 T vegan sour cream

1/2 c soy milk or dairy free milk

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

dash of red pepper flakes

pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium until everything has melted down. Stir over med-low for 5 minutes! Enjoy

Pretty easy right? Talk about a great way to get some veggies into your family all the while having an allergen free meal! It's a great day!

Plant based...some hard things



I have found it can be a hard thing to live healthy and plant based in this society. There are some key nutrients that we need that aren't always easy to get the proper amounts without eating certain animal products. So why don't I eat them? Well I weigh the pros and cons of each food...do I really want the good product so bad that I'd let the not so good stuff into my body?

Some of this that I'm going to write today may be controversial to some and how they view things. This world would be pretty boring if we didn't have different opinions right!

One of the greatest nutrients that is hard to get adequate amounts of is DHA. DHA is the brain building omega-3 that comes from breastmilk for our little babies. It should be in children's diet as well as adult diets. A healthy brain can truly prevent disorders like Alzeihmers and Dementia! I work with people everyday who suffer from these diseases and I don't want them. It's miserable for the family as well as very confusing for the resident at times.

DHA supplements are primarily fish oil. How many of you take a fish oil supplement? I think if you can down them it's better than nothing, however the fatty fish they use for the supplements also supply us with the mercury. I read here that if we take the recommended supplemental amount we will be getting too much mercury in our bodies as well. You've got to weigh the pros and cons. I'm in the process of finding a new DHA supplement for my kids. They have been taking a DHA supplement that is fish oil...its a gummy and they love it. I scoured my nearby stores for a plant based DHA, I've seen them advertised but to my frustration none of my stores chose to carry them. There was flaxseed oil, but it didn't say on the ingredients that it contained DHA...so I moved on. You can recieve DHA from plant food--just not the serving that is recommended. Foods to eat are walnuts, chia and leafy greens. Hemp seed and flax also give us the omega-3s. So what should we take if we aren't fond of the idea of the pollutants in the fish oil? Well I'm looking for a clean algea supplement- or I may order these drops from Dr. Furhman's website. What do you think about DHA? Have you even thought about it? Sometimes I feel like it is the forgotten supplement.

The next one is the one that I think is going to get the buzz going. Folic Acid! How many of you who have been pregnant before were told to take folic acid in your prenatal vitamin to prevent neural tube deffects like spina bifida? I sure as heck did...I wasn't going to risk the health of my baby. But was I risking my health? So over this past year I've done a lot of research on my family and the best way to eat. The past four years really is how long I've been bouncing back and forth with plant based eating. Awhile back I read an article about folic acid and how your chances of breast cancer increase if you take the synthetic supplement.

Okay so what do I mean synthetic? Folic acid is the synthetic version of Folate. Folate is found in green vegetables. If we eat our spinach and broccoli and romaine lettuce we will get ample supply of folate...we won't need the folic acid supplement. Isn't the natural version better than the synthetic one? I want to link the article here that talks about the increase risk of breast cancer. I am a mom and I will do anything for my children and that includes any future unborn children, but it got me thinking about the miracle supplement folic acid.

It made sense to me that adding the natural, raw nutrients would be just as effective as the man made version...if not more effective because it wouldn't add anything harmful to my body.

I am not a doctor or scientist. This is research I've done for myself. I would talk with your doctor about these things if you wonder...I would most definetly do the research on my own as well and try and educate myself so I can better understand what is available to me!

here is another article I read awhile ago that talked about plant based eating in pregnancy--it discusses folic acid a little bit it was very interesting and really got the wheels turning!

What are your thoughts? Is there a supplement you like to use?

Zesty Triple Bean Salad

 

 

I have given summer a farewell. It's sad, but so exciting. I love the fall and I love all the holidays. My house was decorated for Halloween four days ago...I couldn't hold off any longer!

 

Fall brings crisp air, beautiful leaves, family, delicious treats, soup and so much more! Last night I attempted to make a chicken noodle like crock pot soup...without chicken. It smelled amazing...but it shouldn't be made it the crockpot...the noodles turned to mush...it was crazy! It needs some TLC and then it'll be ready to share with you all!

 

 

 

The side dish made up for my disappointment soup. I made a zesty triple bean salad that really took our taste buds for a ride! It was fantastic, I had it for lunch today also!

 

Beans are a key aspect to living a plant based diet. Greens, fruit and other vegetables do have protein, but most of my intense protein comes from Adam's Natural Peanut Butter and a huge variety of beans! I love beans!

 

As a budgeter as well-- beans are cheap...I like love healthy cheap! I want to write a book on 100 things to make with beans they are amazing! They are the magical fruit!!!

 

So if you are looking for a zesty, flavorful, easy, healty, budget friendly meal you are really going to want to try this! From start to finish it took me 10 minutes to serve it up. Believe it or not in this house this was kid friendly too! How great is that!

 

Zesty Triple Bean Salad

 

1 c black beans

1c red kidney beans

1 c navy beans

1/2 cucumber chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 c chopped red pepper

2 T olive or canola oil

4 T red wine vinegar

1 T parsley

 

If you are using canned beans make sure you rinse the beans well. Combine all ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Mix well. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes or until you serve it. Serve over lettuce! Enjoy your taste bud happy time!