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!

 

 

 



Trying New Things, And Delicious Collard Greens

Do you know about the kid face? The face that is a mix between fear and disgust? When your child looks up at you and is mentally saying 

 "You can't be serious! You really want me to eat that?"

That is the face my daughter gave me last night when I placed a side of collard greens on her plate!

We have never had collard greens before! Last night we hadn't had basically anything that I served before. 

Last night was a night of trying new things. I decided I wanted to try collard greens. If I'm going to eat plant based I better branch out and eat more than spinach and romaine lettuce or my meals may get a little bit boring. I tried the greens raw in a salad before, and well they were very bitter. So I decided to saute them with some flavor.

We also tried Quinoa pasta for the first time! I loved it, it didn't taste any different to me, but it is a little bit lower in carbohydrates so that was a fantastic find it is also gluten free! The box also gave some awesome sounding recipes that I can't wait to try out!

We also tried Boca ground crumbles in our sauce in place of ground beef. Boca is soy based, but didn't taste like soy. Really I find it is a great ground beef replacement. I think the lentil meatballs are healthier since I'm sure the Boca crumbles have sodium in them, but if the lentils don't do it for you, this is another alternative!

Back to my daughter story about the greens. Well she kept saying her lettuce was wet, that was funny. My son didn't even give them a chance unfortunately, and try reasoning with and 18 month old. It's not the easiest thing. But, my daughter was required to try at least one bite. It was an enjoyable moment. 

I watched the face. It was a face for about 5 minutes trying to figure out if she liked it or not. Then she distracted herself as most 3 year old's do, and she swallowed it.  I asked her if she liked it and she said she did, so success in my mind!

I think these make a beautiful side dish. It is a nice way to add some extra greens into your diet. It uses some oil, maybe you like them raw which is probably better, but I used very little oil and liked the end result.  It is bright and colorful and for the holidays I keep thinking Thanksgiving! Awesome!

Collard Greens

1 Bunch of collard greens

2 tsp coconut oil

1/2 c sun dried tomatoes

1/2 onion

1 garlic clove shredded

1/4 c sunflower nuts

Heat oil in large skillet. Add collard greens with onion, garlic, and tomatoes. Heat for 15 minutes, mixing occasionally to make sure the greens are wilting and coated. Add sunflower nuts. Mix and heat another 5 minutes until the greens are very wilted and onions are cooked and browned. Enjoy! You can top these with your favorite dressing if you'd like or vinegar. I thought they were great without it. 

Add any nut in place of sunflower nuts. I think pine nuts, or almond slivers would be great.

Living Simple and Healthy

 I feel I haven't been able to post that much lately (if I don't post everyday I feel like I'm neglecting the blog). One reason is I've been slamming with the final wrap ups of the eBook design and also my stinking computer has been having the hardest time uploading the pictures I take...it's a bummer. Well I've been trying for  few days to upload some now finally this morning it decided to be nice to me and let me get some pictures to post for you guys.

As a working mom I don't always have the energy and time to make time consuming meals. Sometimes I do, most times they taste great and I'm proud of my hard work, but there are other times when I  am so stressed out that I don't even enjoy the meal because it doesn't taste that great-then it just makes me sad.

It is awesome when I can make something nutritious and delicious without a huge mess or without a huge prep time. I wanted to share some simple food ideas that I've made that my family has loved! These meals are easy to make and the other plus...they are cheap and go a long way! Bring on the healthy and happy in these dinners!

Meal #1 Maple Baked Beans with Baked Potato

Beans:

1 can chili beans

1 can black beans

2 tsp pure maple extract

2 T honey

1 tsp cumin

1/2 onion, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add all ingredients into and 8x8 baking dish, use the bean liquid too, don't rinse the beans. Mix well. Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 10 minutes. Delicious! 

* I had the potatoes baking before hand, I added the beans about 25 minutes into the baked potatoes and took them out together! Easy.

These are called Pantry tacos since I just looked around and used anything I saw that would go well together in my fridge and pantry! It worked great! That's all I have to say...delicious. 

Meal #2 Pantry Tacos and sweet potato fries

Taco filling

 1 can beans (any kind) drained and rinsed

1 c low sodium vegetable broth

1/2 chopped onion

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 handful spinach finely chopped

3-4 canned jalapenos with juice

1 T cumin

Add all ingredient to a medium sauce pan. Heat on med-low and cover. Let simmer for 15-20 minuted until vegetables have achieved desired tenderness.

Sweet Potato Fries

2 julienne d peeled sweet potatoes

paprika, salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour olive oil over potatoes and add seasonings. Bake for 15 minutes then flip the fries over. Bake another 15 minutes until they are golden and crispy! Enjoy

It is so nice to have healthy meals that are easy and fun to eat! Does anyone have some easy fun, healthy recipes that they enjoy in their families? Leave a comment!

 

Skinny Enchiladas- trial 2

These magnificent enchiladas were initially intended to be part of the crock pot challenge. Well it ended up very mushy and a weird texture....so I ended up just baking them.

These are full of nutrients...seriously guys so good! I loved every bite and even told my husband "These are perfect for neighbor food! You know after a baby comes or something I'm taking these!" Everyone loved them...well my son is still being funny with food...he threw a lot of it, but my three year old gobbled them up like she had never eaten before!

Derek suggested that I call them What?! No Meat Enchiladas...catchy but I don't know I just didn't. These are ideal for the fall season that will be here in no time, they were colorful and delicious and I will be making these again shortly I'm sure! You can have a gluten free option by just using corn tortillas.

I added maybe a half a tablespoon of shredded cheese, I don't know why- I just did. It added nothing to this dish I couldn't even taste it, so next time I'll leave the unnecessary saturated fat out! I also found this adorable little bag of butternut squash pre-cut into perfect little squares so I didn't have to cut and peel a squash. If you guys want a delicious healthy, fall  meal to impress your family's without adding to the hips...ladies am I right? Then these are for you!

Skinny Enchiladas

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans or chili beans

1 c cubed butternut squash

1 handful of spinach finely chopped

1 can green chili enchilada sauce

1 T nutritional yeast

1 c cooked brown rice

10 whole wheat tortillas (or corn)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain and rinse beans. In a small bowl combine beans, squash, spinach, rice and a tablespoon of enchilada sauce. Coat well. In a baking dish fill tortillas with bean mixture and roll the tortillas over the mixture. 

top with remaining enchilada sauce, nutritional yeast and a small amount of cheese if you'd like. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Serve with salad and corn!!! You can thank me later!!!!

This is all that was left after we devoured them!

Crock Pot Vegetarian Chili

Fall is in the air! I love chili during the cooler months- we especially love chili on Halloween with some cornbread to dip into it! There always seem to be parties and get together and chili is the eatable guest of honor! I love the spicy flavors all meshed into one awesome bite! That is why I love the crock pot for soups...it just seems to blend it so well together.

This vegetarian chili cannot be beat with how easy it is. Seriously this is a "drop" soup....all you do is drop everything into the crock pot and walk away! Easy Peasy!

My kids always devour this bad boy! It is filling and if your looking for a meat chili you can easily add ground turkey to this, but it is so satisfying even without meat! We love it! Chili and cornbread here we come! Welcome the Fall season and make this easy dinner tonight!

Vegetarian Chili

1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)

2 c vegetable stock

1 packet low sodium taco seasoning

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1/2 green bell pepper, minced

1/2 onion, minced

1 T cumin

1/4 c nutritional yeast (optional)

Rinse all the beans together and drain liquid. Take 1/3 of the beans and mash them in a separate bowl. Add mashed beans and remaining ingredients to the crock pot. Do a quick stir to mix in the seasonings. Cook on high for 3-4 hours! Delicious, and easy! Enjoy 

Quinoa Corn Chowder!

Well so far so good in the crock-pot challenge...okay so it's only day two. I have a feeling by the end of this I'm going to be reeeeeaaaalllly sick of cleaning my crock-pot out! Already though I am just loving the ease of dinner, I forget how nice it is when dinner time rolls around and I realize I'm sitting down waiting just like everyone else instead of being all over the place in the kitchen!

I love soup, stew, even stewp! They are flavorful and so easy to prepare and with the crock pot it's even better! You just throw it all in and let it cook! When I was searching around trying to find new recipes for the crock pot I stumbled upon an idea for corn chowder with quiona. here and decided it had to be on the list! I made it my own and I loved it and my kids did too. Derek liked it but he enjoys anything with jalapenos in it~  this is one of those that would be great to freeze the leftovers since it makes a ton of chowder! Awesome- two meals in one whack!

The best things I'm noticing about using the crock-pot

~ creativity in the kitchen

~ Easy clean up and easy prep

~ more time to spend with my sweet kids!

That last one is by far the best! Sometimes around dinner time my kids get a little whiny! Does anyone else know the feeling? By the time I've gotten them in their chairs with their plates in front of them I'm feeling a little stressed out! These last two nights, however, have been great. We've gone on extra walks, I've sat down and played barbies and Legos! It's been great. 

Well onto this delicious heartwarming soup!

 

Quinoa Corn Chowder

1 1/2 C uncooked quinoa

4 C water

1 can low sodium vegetable broth

4-5 potatoes chopped

1 red bell pepper

1 C frozen corn

3-4 canned jalapenos with 3-4 T of juice

1/2 onion, minced

1 T cumin

1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Soak Quinoa in water for about 5 minutes, while you chop the vegetables. Add remaining ingredients to crock-pot and let it cook on high for 3-4 hours. Enjoy

White Hot White Chili

I haven't forgotten about Alphabet Days! It is coming to a close and it is "W" day and we made it spiiiiicy!
I have never been a huge fan of insanely spicy foods; I can never quite understand how it's enjoyable to eat food while you're tongue is burning slowly out of your mouth! Derek on the other hand can't get enough of the "tough guy" spice. He told me he thought this chili had an intense kick to it! So that means I could only eat half of it before I was done. It was really tasty, but tooooo spicy for me!

This chili is a perfect shake up to typical every day chili, a creamy base with tons of white beans floating around. Yes please. If you want to add a major wake up call to your tastes tonight this if for you! I made mine in my crock-pot, but it can easily be made in a sauce pan.

White Hot White Chili

2 cans of white beans

2 C frozen corn

1 onion

1-2 green or yellow chili's, chopped

2 C water

2 C milk ( any milk will do. A good one to try is canned coconut milk)

2 T cornmeal

1-2 T cornstarch

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1 T cumin

Add beans, onion, chili's, corn and 1 cup of water to the crock-pot or sauce pan.

 Combine milk, one cup of water, cornmeal and garlic to blender. Blend for 60 seconds. Add corn starch to the blended milk and stir to help thicken it. Add salt and cumin and pour over the top of beans and vegetables.

 In crock pot cook on low for 4-5 hours in the sauce pan let simmer together over med-low for 30-60 minutes Enjoy

*you can also use cashews in place of the cornstarch, just add them to the blender to thicken.

Hawaiian Haystacks

As summer is kissing this year good-bye I feel the need to take full advantage of all the delicious, sweet fruit out there! Pineapple is one of the greatest gifts given to this earth! Okay, I'm sure there are a lot of other awesome things, but isn't pineapple so delicious!

I mean you throw it in some ice cream or make a tropical smoothie and you can be sitting on beach getting tan while there's a blizzard going on outside (I don't know why you'd eat ice cream during a blizzard, but in case you do...I'm sure that's how you feel)

Tonight I was missing Hawaiian haystacks. We haven't had them FOREVER! I also haven't made them with anything but cream of chicken soup before or without ham....and those two ingredients just aren't going to fly with me anymore. So I tried two sauces. The ginger vinaigrette and I made a creamy version of the dressing by using cashews. I'm still not sure which I like better. I'm also very open to another saucy idea so leave a comment if you have a tasty creation! I was satisfied with the Asian swing of these haystacks, and honestly I didn't miss the ham...yes you can do meatless and have a flavorful meal! Enjoy the last big of summer with chunky, tangy pineapple over your haystacks....you can thank me later :)

Hawaiian Haystacks

2 C uncooked Brown rice

1 C green onion

1 pineapple, chopped

1 C sweet peas

1 C corn

1 onion finely chopped

1 C shredded carrots

Rice Chow mein noodles, tortilla strips ( I used these) or nuts for some extra crunch 

* other toppings

Black Beans

Red Bell Pepper

Mango

Broccoli

Mushrooms

black olives

cashews

Ginger Vinaigrette Recipe 

Cashew Ginger Dressing

1/3 C raw cashews

1/2 T ground ginger

2 garlic cloves

1/3 C soy sauce

1/4 C almond milk

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Cook rice in rice cooker until very tender. Two options: you can leave your vegetables raw or if you're like me and have an onion texture issue you can saute some together for a stir fry taste. I sauteed the onion, peas,  carrots and corn for 5 minutes in a skillet to tenderize the vegetables. For the Cashew dressing add all ingredients to blender and blend for 2 minutes until completely smooth. Add pineapple, choice of dressing, and vegetables to the rice. Top with chow mein noodles. Enjoy

Healthy Garden Vegetable Soup

Rain is a blessing! As I've gotten older, I've really started to enjoy overcast and rainy days....if we have rainy days for a long period of time, I do start to glare out the window and mutter rain complaints under my breath! Every once in awhile I'm completely happy with a nice rainy day though!

I feel I've been neglecting my recipe inventing, searching and just general cooking! I've been so wrapped up with family and our eBook that dinner hasn't always been my first thought. So as the afternoon drew to a close today and I realized I'm going to have whiny, hungry kids in a few minutes I started to panic! Okay, not really panic, but I started to pace the kitchen trying to find something to pull together-quick!

One thing we don't want to do when there is no dinner planned is????? Go out! Right, it's not nice to the wallet or waist! So....I looked out the window, looked at my fridge, looked out the window again and decided on...soup, comforting, steamy, rainy day bliss, soup.

Derek told me a few days ago we needed to add more beans into our meals, he's right. With meat on the back burner at our house we need the protein from nuts and beans, so I added beans to this delicious soup, you however can leave them out if you'd like...it's not a totally crucial ingredient.

All I did for this soup is raid my fridge and pull out any vegetable I wanted to throw into this! It blended together so nicely, it coupled some whole grain toast with ease and my kids turned into dippin' fools! Come on now, that's one of the best parts of soup is dipping the roll into right!

My daughter was adorable tonight, she dipped, then sipped...after about doing this three times she looked at me and said "Mom, I just love this so much!" Seriously guys, pure vegetable soup! What more could  I ask for! Shake this up to your heart's content....you really can't go wrong

Garden Vegetable Soup

2 C low-sodium vegetable broth

3 C water

2 C chopped carrots

2 C cubed potatoes

1 chopped broccoli crown

1/2 onion

1 C frozen corn

1 zucchini

2 cloves garlic

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 C white beans, rinsed and drained (optional) 

1 T Mrs. Dash Seasoning

1/2 T Italian seasoning

1/2 T paprika

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Combine water, broth, onion and garlic, heat over medium heat while you chop the remaining vegetables. Add vegetables, beans and seasonings to pot. Cover and heat over med-low until potatoes are very tender. Scoop half of soup and put it in the blender, blend until puree texture, return puree to the rest of the soup. Serve with warm rolls and salad! 

*this soup will freeze well, so if you have a lot of left overs or want to use it as a freezer meal go for it!

Rumbi Voodoo Salad

Today I decided to throw my kids for a loop and instead of doing "U" day we'll do "V" for alphabet days!!!

Honestly....it's because I just couldn't wait to try and recreate this salad.

Island foods to me have the most amazing flavors! I adore the sauces with fruit pour over coconut rice or noodles! I feel like I'm sitting on a sandy beach sipping pineapple juice with my little umbrella every time I eat a savory bit of coconut or mango! Delicious.

Well although my husband and I don't eat out much for the mere fact that we can't find a whole lot of healthy foods when we eat out, I did fall head over heals in love with my last salad from Rumbi Island Grill. If you haven't eaten there it's awesome! Unfortunately it doesn't span the country. It's only found in a few states in the West. But no tears....that is why I've recreated the salad for you here! So you can bring this savory salad with tangy dressing to your own dinner tables. I changed a few things from the original salad. It had feta cheese crumbled over it, but I didn't put it in my own. I also added nuts and seeds to mine as well as a few mandarin oranges! So tasty

This salad does include chicken. If your are looking for vegan options or vegetarian, it's simple to just take the chicken off. It will still be amazing, I promise! If you enjoy Asian sauces or ginger you will drink this dressing by itself!  Enjoy

Rumbi Voodoo Salad (2 salads)

4 C romaine lettuce

1 C tortilla strips

1 C cooked chicken, cubed

1 C raw cashew nuts

1/2 C almonds

1/4 C sunflower nuts

1/4 C celery

1/4 C mandarin oranges 

Ginger Dressing

1 T ground fresh ginger root (if using already ground ginger use 2 T)

1/3 C olive oil

1/4 C rice vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 C low sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 T honey

Place lettuce on plate and top with remaining ingredients in the desired amounts. 

For the dressing, place all the ingredients in a high powered blender and blend for one minute until everything is very well combined and there are no chunks. 

Pour a tablespoon over salad! Enjoy

Optional toppings

Carrots

broccoli

feta cheese

rice noodles

beets

corn

beans

rice

quinoa

etc.

source: Rumbi Island Grill

Baked Apple Spice Mug

I've already kissed summer good-bye in my mind and I'm wishfully dreaming of the holidays. The smells, the tastes, the fun! I love spice smells, it makes me want want to grab my sweater, curl up with a book and drink a hot beverage! Then I bring myself back to reality and remind myself it's still 100 degrees outside and my AC is on! 

Well....I'll still take the hot beverage, just with my shorts and t-shirt on! 

I actually developed a little bit of a sore throat today and was wanting something soothing for it. I didn't just want hot water and lemon though, that just wasn't enough. So I went back into dreamland and thought spiced baked apples would be amazing! This drink was not whipped up in 5 minutes, but I had my thoughts toward my goal and I went for it. It paid off!

First my house smelled absolutely amazing! My kids had no idea what was in the oven but they said waiting patiently for it to be removed. They knew it had to be some rich, tasty, treat! 

Second, it really wasn't that hard, I just had to wait for the apples to bake! 

If you are like me and your ready to bring some fall into the house, go ahead and whip this up. Who cares if your kids are outside running through the sprinklers....I don't!

Baked Apple Spice Mug

  

1 apple, peeled and chopped

1 T cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground cloves

a mug full of almond milk!

Preheat oven to 375. Place the apple into a small baking dish sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves over the apples. Bake for 20 minutes or until the apples are the tenderness you'd like. If you'd like them in small chucks you can always blend them after they are baked, just blend them with the milk. 

Heat milk in microwave for about 90 seconds. Add spiced apples to the mug and stir so the spices combine with the milk. Sprinkle top with cinnamon. 

*if you'd like to have more a tea like drink do half and half with the water and milk.

 

Stuffed Shells

Sunshine, Sweet tooth, Smile, Smooch, Stuffed Shells? Today is "S" day! And it's a double whammy with stuffed shells! These were wonderful, amazing, tasty, and gone in hours. I loved every bite!

Typically I've found that most stuffed shells are a mixture of cheeses, well not these babies, they have very little dairy in them and it is easily removed. We used lean ground turkey and vegetables for the filling! I enjoyed these shells so much more than typical cheese filled shells.

Even before I limited my dairy intake I thought cheese ravioli and cheese stuffed pastas were too much, I didn't really enjoy them. So needless to say that may be one of the many reasons why I enjoyed these shells so much.

I love it when I do a post for a meal that hit the spot so much, they are much more expressive :) it makes me want to sit here and wait for everyone to post a comment and tell me how deliciously sinful they found them as well! I won't, I do have things to do believe it or not. That doesn't mean I don't know that you'll love them as much as I did though!

The only downside is, I was never able to find whole grain shells, I found some garden shells that had crushed vegetables in them, but I still cringed at the ingredient list that said enriched flour! Yuck, that was the only rain cloud that lingered...for just a second. This is a beautiful meal, so I suggest use it when you want to strut your stuff and show off your skills to people :)

Stuffed Shells

 1 lb lean ground turkey

1 small onion

1/2 green pepper

1/2 red pepper

3 mushrooms (optional)

1/3 C feta cheese crumbles

Sauce

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 C water

1 T basil

1 T oregano

1 T parsley

1 bay leaf

1 package of jumbo shell pasta

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook shell pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. Add turkey and onion to skillet. Brown turkey for about 7 minutes then add remaining vegetables to saute together. Cook until turkey is completely browned. Remove turkey mixture from skillet and place in a large bowl.

Add feta cheese to turkey. Set aside. In turkey skillet add all sauce ingredients. Simmer covered for 10 minutes then remove from heat. Add 1/3 C of sauce to the meat mixture. Spoon small amounts of meat mixture into cooked shells. Place shells into deep baking dish. When all the shells are filled

 top them with the remaining sauce. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minuted until the sauce is bubbly. 

Enjoy

Red Pepper Linguini

Isn't pasta just a srumptious, cozy comfort food! I love spooning the noodles and all the flavors that one bowl can hold! I always loved creamy, buttery Alfredo sauces before changing our eating habits! I was so discouraged when I thought I would never again enjoy a creamy, satisfying sauce over noodles! Since then I have been proven wrong on numerous occasions and thankfully I've been proven wrong once again! 

Although I am a HUGE pasta lover I do try and limit the amount we have simply for carbohydrates. When we do have pasta though I take advantage of the golden opportunity I have sitting before me to add amazing ingredients to my dish to make it whole and healthy! If you are new to natural eating, sauces are a great way to throw in some extra veggies or healthy fats! They blend together beautifully and make you wanting leftovers the next day and the next day!

We are still continuing our alphabet journey and today just happens to be the letter "R"! I thought of this pasta to make up for the meal, but tonight I'm also whipping up some delicious raspberry chocolate drops, post to be continued! So after brainstorming how I wanted to make my sauce I decided to add some flavorful red peppers to qualify for "R" day! This was an amazing addition if I do say so myself. The pesto sauce was beautiful and had a kick to it, the peppers simply made it more pronounced, while adding some color! 

My kids LOVED this pasta, my son had thirds! I wasn't sure how it would all come together with the avocado, but it was great. A tip from seeing the leftovers, maybe just make enough for one night. The reheated leftovers weren't bad tasting, my son again just loved them, but the avocado flavor starts to come out more and more. I think the longer it stays in the fridge, the less likely it will become a good tasting leftover! Just my opinion. 

Enjoy~

Red Pepper Linguini 

1 lb whole wheat linguini

1 red bell pepper

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 pitted avocado

3 C fresh spinach

4 garlic cloves

2 T lemon juice

1/3 C crushed tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes

2 T basil

2  Italian Seasoning

1/4 C water

 Cook Linguini according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Chop red pepper into small chunks and set in a bowl off to the side. 

Combine remaining ingredients to blender or food processor. Blend until completely smooth. About 2 minutes. 

There are two ways to do this. You can serve the sauce right then with the warm pasta or you can bake it. If you want to for-go the baking, add the chopped bell pepper to your blender along with the other ingredients.

If you choose to bake it (this is what we did) Combine linguini, sauce and chopped red pepper to casserole dish

Make sure you coat the pasta well. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cover and bake pasta for about 18-20 minutes! 

Serve warm with salad!

Butternut Squash Lasagna- GF

One thing I have missed from time to time is my cheesy, enormous, best tasting lasagna! It probably had a days worth of calories in one serving, but I always got so many compliments on the taste!

Where I am right now with my food choices and how I eat, I honestly don't crave cheese any more and red meat. I do love pasta, but it's always good to balance your carbohydrate intake, for me especially....Pasta is my love!

Sundays are usually when I'll prepare a meal that uses meat. I don't know why, that's just how it's been working out, I stick to lean poultry and always have it balanced well with vegetables and fruits. This meal made it onto the weekly meal list. When I found it here, it sounded great, it was healthy, it used poultry, and I hoped beyond hope that it would stop me missing my old lasagna recipe at some point! I did make a few tweaks to fit our tastes.

I can tell you I thought it was wonderful! It didn't have the cheesy taste, but that was okay with me. It still tasted like an awesome Italian dish, but no pasta. I don't know why I didn't think of something like this before. I've used zucchini squash before to replace pasta with my zucchini noodles. I really enjoyed the texture of the squash and mixed with the turkey sausage I put in it was awesome! I do think if your looking for vegan this would taste just find with some more vegetables thrown in there to give more variety and just X out the meat.

My daughter is having a battle day. She tried it once and said she didn't like it. She saw me squirt some lemon juice on my broccoli so she asked for some. Apparently she doesn't like that taste either. So I said, you eat either all your broccoli or all of your squash. Well she just left the table with all of her lasagna finished. I asked her if she liked it and she just said, "I do like it!" It just takes kids getting over new tastes I think before they realize...hey wait a second this is kinda good!!! At least that's the way it goes in our house. I've stopped listening to the protests and just keep saying okay well you need to try everything! Keep introducing those foods, remember it can take 8-10 times before a kid likes something! Luckily it just took a few more bites for my daughter to like this one! My son is napping, so I don't have a report from him :)

Butternut Squash lasagna

1 Butternut Squash

1 package of Italian Turkey Sausage or chicken

1 recipe of easy marinara sauce

1 bay leaf

1/2 T parsley to sprinkle on top

Easy Marinara Sauce

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste

1/2 28 oz crushed tomatoes

4 garlic cloves

1/2 onion

2 T olive oil

1 1/2 T Italian Seasoning

1 T parsley

2 T Italian dressing

1/2 T basil

Peel squash. I've found if you poke holes in the squash before then throw it in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds it is soooooo much easier to peel and cut! Cut lengthwise in half and remove the seeds. Slice into thin slices

and place into a deep baking dish. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook sausage in skillet over med-high heat until completely cooked through. Leave sausage in skillet and add your ingredients for the marinara sauce. Simmer for 10-12 minutes then add sauce to the butternut squash, stir in the extra bay leaf, cover and bake for about 45 minutes or until the squash is very tender. Top with parsley. We enjoyed this with steamed broccoli, but you can go all out with garlic bread, salad the real deal if you want a real Italian meal!!!