Homemade Salsa

Yum! Homemade Salsa is always a hit at our house. Once you eat homemade it is hard to go back to the store bought. We have gotten spoiled.

Ingredients:
4 Roma Tomatoes* optional (You don't have to  use these)
1 16oz can of diced tomatoes
 1/4 white onion
1 small can of green chilies
1 clove of garlic
1 handful of washed cilantro
1/2 fresh jalapeno seeded
2 T fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Pour all the ingredients into the blender and pulse a couple times. Don"t blend to much if you want it chunky. Serve fresh is best.  Enjoy

Whole Grain Tortilla Pizza

Vegetables and Beans

Vegetable

This is an easy meal for Summer. We enjoyed it last week. There are all sorts of variations you can do to as well. The best part was I felt like I was eating something healthy and fresh. Great for a get together. Everyone could make their favorite combination.


Ingredients:

Cut up tomatoes
purple onion
fresh herbs basil marjoram or ?
yellow peppers
homemade re-fried beans (I added chili Verde to them) or any beans
spices- Italian or Mexican mix.
2 T olive oil or grape seed oil to combine vegetable
salt and pepper to taste
cheese Parmesan or any cheese of your choice
homemade whole grain tortillas  or store bought  

Directions: Heat oven to 375


1. Combine vegetables of your choosing with combine spices, salt, pepper and oil stir in a bowl.

2. Scoop a serving size on to tortilla. If using beans put them on the tortilla first.

3. Sprinkle on cheese if desired. Place tortillas on cookie sheet. Bake in oven till nice and hot 3-5 min. Serve hot. Yum!

Shitake Mushroom and other Vegetables Omelet

This was a nice breakfast for our holiday today. It was loaded with a lot of great vegetables. I was excited that my son enjoyed eating it. He sometimes is not a fan of lots of vegetables. The Parmesan cheese was a nice touch. The dried mushrooms worked great I have never used them before. :)

Ingredients: 2 servings
1 whole egg
3 egg whites
salt and pepper
2 T oil
1/4 Green pepper diced in pieces
1/2 C dried shitake mushrooms
1/2 C purple onions chopped
1 small jalapeno diced in pieces
2 Roma tomatoes chopped in small pieces
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 T oil (I used grape seed oil)
fresh Parmesan cheese grated

Directions:
1. Beat egg and egg whites together for a couple minutes. Heat frying pan on medium heat.

2. Pour in half the mixture. Swirl around in the pan. Heat and then lift up edge and let uncooked egg slide under. Let cook a couple minutes.

3. In the meant time. Heat another pan and pour in the oil. Throw all the vegetables into the oil and cook until tender about 5 min.

4. Scoop a couple spoonfuls of cooked vegetables on one side of the omelet. Fold the other half on over the top of the vegetables. Grate some cheese on top.

5. Repeat the process with the remaining egg. Serve warm. Top with salsa or ketchup.

Layered Bean Dip with Black Beans

This is a nice layered Bean Dip for the holiday weekend. We put it in a glass dish to show off the layers. A narrower dish would work even better if you are going for even more of a visual splash. I really liked the black beans in it instead of the traditional refried beans. It is a great way to eat vegetables too. You could dip vegetables in it as well as chips. Have a safe New Years Weekend!

Ingredients:

6 Roma tomatoes Chopped in bite size pieces
1 tsp sea salt with iodine
4 scallions chopped up ( washed green onions)
3 T lime juice
1/4 C chopped up cilantro
1-2 jalapenos chopped in small pieces
1 140z can black beans drained
4 garlic cloves minced
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 3/4 C sour cream
1 to 2 T salsa or taco sauce
3 avocados mashed up or pureed
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 T lime juice
2 tsp minced dried onions

Directions:

1. In a bowl mix together chopped tomatoes, and salt. Let them drain in a colander for 30 min.
Then stir in scallions, lime juice, cilantro, peppers. Set the bowl aside

2. In another bowl pour drained beans in. Mash or puree them in a food processor. Then stir in garlic, salt, cumin, and chili powder. Spread in the bottom of the glass dish.

3. In another bowl mix together sour cream and salsa set aside.

4. In a separate bowl. Mix the mashed or pureed avocado salt, chili powder, lime juice, and onion. Spread the avocados on top of the bean mixture carefully.

5. Then spread on the sour cream on top of the avocado mixture.

6. With the final layer being the tomato mixture. Then toss the scallions on top.

7. You can serve right away, or cover and put in the fridge. You can make up to a day ahead of time.

Zucchini and Tomatoes with Brown Rice and Parmesan Cheese

This was another way to use vegetables that are a good price right now, or better yet in your garden. The combination of the flavors was fantastic. The trick was to cook it enough that it was tender, but not mushy. I love being able to keep the colors bright too. It makes the food so much more appealing. It was a nice healthy meal.

Ingredients:

1/4 C olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 onion chopped up small pieces
3 C chopped zucchini
6 ripe Roma tomatoes chopped in small pieces
1/2 to 1 green pepper diced in small pieces
6 basil leaves torn in small pieces
1 tsp sea salt w/ iodine
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
herbs of your choice 1/2 tsp of each oregano, rosemary and more dried basil (if you want)
2 1/2 C cooked brown rice
1/8 C water
fresh grated Parmesan *Optional

Directions:

1. In a skillet heat up olive oil and then add garlic and onions. Saute about 3 min.

2. Then throw in the zucchini, peppers, Saute another 3 min. Then throw in the remaining ingredients except for the Parmesan. Continue to stir the mixture for another 5 min. Then pour in a little water. Put on the lid and let cook on med. heat for 3-5 min.

3. Take off the lid and let dry out and cook to desired tenderness. I like it still slightly firm and still colorful.

4. Serve on individual plates and grate on the cheese if desired. Serve warm.

Whole Grain Thin Crust Pizza

This pizza was inspired by getting a free sample from from a Bistro yesterday. :) I thought it would be fun to try and recreate it with wholegrain flour. It was a fun change not having sauce, just cheeses, spices, tomatoes and olive oil. It made a light nice meal. I have found adding a little bit of vinegar works as a nice leavening agent with whole grains.

Ingredients:
Whole Grain Pizza Dough:
1 T Yeast
6 C whole grain flour (I used spelt with)
2 1/2 T kosher salt
1 T olive oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
2 C warm water

Pizza toppings: (Choose your preference)
fresh grated Parmesan cheese
fresh cut tomatoes (Roma would be great) sun dried would be yummy
2 minced garlic
Italian seasoning, basil, oregano and rosemary and ?
mozzarella cheese
a little kosher salt
aged provolone and or Romano
olive oil

Directions:
1. Pour all the ingredients for the dough into the bowl at the same time. Except start with 5 cups of flour and add more slowly. Keep adding flour until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead about 3-5 min. Take dough out, rub olive oil all over the dough. Place in bowl. Cover and let double in warm spot. Punch down and let rise another 20 min. Then punch down.

2. Heat oven to 400. Roll out dough thin on oiled parchment paper. That is on the back of a cookie sheet.

3. Rub olive oil on to the dough and place the toppings you choose on top.

4. If you have a pizza stone. Slide the pizza off the cookie sheet (keeping the parchment paper underneath) on to the pizza stone. The other option is just cook it on the cookie sheet.

5. Bake about 15 min. or until cheese bubbles. Enjoy!

Whole Grain Baguettes and Bruschetta

Several years back a friend came to my house with homemade Bruschetta. It tasted so wonderful. I have thought it would be wonderful to give it a try sometime, and so I finally did.

I enjoyed creating a new recipe I hadn't tried before. I thought it would be fun to make whole grain baguettes. The recipes I looked up all had white with the wheat. It is not a problem to have the combo, but my preference is to stick with the whole grain when I can. The baguettes turned out well. My daughter had given me a baguette pan that worked perfect. It helps to not have it spread when it rises and bakes. I also loved the texture it gave to the bottom of the bread.

It was then fun to make the baguettes into brushetta. It was a crowd pleaser. My son thought it was liking eating little pizzas (and he doesn't usually like tomatoes!). I look forward to making it again. You could buy the baguettes if you don't have time to go to the extra work. :) It would make a great addition to the 4Th of July weekend.

Ingredients: Makes 2 Baguettes

Baguette
5 1/2 to 6 C whole grain flour*
2 T flax seed ground
2 C Warm water
2 T yeast
1 T honey
1/4 C kefir or plain yogurt (helps with the rising.)
1 tsp salt
4 T olive oil

Directions:
1. In bread mixer pour in 2 C flour, warm water, ground flax, honey, and yeast. Let sit about 10 minutes till it starts to bubble and foam. If it doesn't bubble and foam, your yeast is dead.

2. Then add the kefir, salt, oil and flour 1 C at a time. You want the dough to be slightly sticky still, and the dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl. Knead about 5 minutes. If you are using spelt. If you are using wheat and white flour you could knead a little longer. Let the dough rest 5 minutes in the bowl.

3. Then take the dough out of the bowl, and rub oil all over the dough. Cover and leave in a warm place on the counter. Let it double. (about 45 minutes to an hour)

4. Then form into 2 long loaves, and place on greased baking sheet or greased baguette pan. They should be about 2 inches thick approx. Then make small cuts across the top diagonally. Then brush olive oil on top. Let rise again about 20 minutes. Bake at 400 15 to 20 min.


*Whole grains ground into flour; about 5C spelt, 3C kamut, 1/2 C each: brown rice, oats, buckwheat. I have extra and store it in the fridge till next time I need it. You can use your own combo.

Bruschetta:

Ingredients:
5-6 ripe tomatoes Roma or vine ripened cut into small pieces
4 cloves minced garlic
1/3 C olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
3 T dried bail or 1/4 C fresh basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 baguette
1 C cheese mozzarella or fresh grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. Turn oven on to broiler setting.

2. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Then let sit for 5 to 10 minutes to let the flavors combine.

3. In the mean time cut up the baguette into small angled slices about 3/4 " thick approx. Place on cookie sheet. Brush top side with olive oil and broil 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly golden.

4. Then take out of the oven, and put a scoop of tomato mixture on each baguette. Then top with small amount of cheese. Place back in the oven 3-5 minutes. Watch so they don't over bake.

Enjoy!

Whole Grain Steak Soft Tacos

"Nearly a century and a half ago, President Brigham Young spoke to the Saints of his day. 'There is a great work for the Saints to do,' he said. 'Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations. In the mean time continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of Christ' (Deseret News, Aug. 8, 1860, 177).

"The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 119

This quote makes me happy! It makes me think about Spring. It also makes happy to think about the things that we can create and do each day. Each day has new opportunities for us to create in so many ways. What are you going to create today? Being in the kitchen is a great way to create. I love it.

This recipe is my latest creation. We had steak a couple nights before. It was a great way to use the leftover steak. I liked all the vegetables in it. My taco was 3/4 vegetables and 1/4 steak. It is a nice meal for this time of year.

Ingredients: Serves 4 or more

1 to 1 1/2 C cooked steak chopped up

2-3 garlic cloves minced

1 leek chopped in small pieces

1 onion chopped up small pieces

1 C bell peppers (yellow and red) chopped up

1 C mushroom chopped in small pieces

3 or 4 roma tomatoes chopped

2 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

6-7 wholegrain tortillas

2 T oil

*I used 1 1/4 C of this too.

salsa and sour cream if desired

Directions:

1. Heat oil in pan. place garlic, leek, and onions and stir and cook 3-4 min. or till soft. Then add remaining vegetables and cook until softened.

2. Then add steak and cook for a couple minutes to heat it all the way up. Serve in tortillas shells.

Now you can make your own creation. :)