Easy Homemade Salsa

We love homemade salsa around here. It is hard to eat the store bought now. Store bought doesn't come close to the flavor of homemade. This is so fast and easy to make. My friend who makes salsa all the time says the no name brand of tomatoes at Walmart makes the best salsa. The great thing about this recipe is you can make it all year long. This is something that I make for most family gatherings.

Ingredients:

1 16oz can whole tomatoes*
 1/4 white onion
3 clove of garlic
1 handful  cilantro leaves washed
1/2 fresh jalapeno seeded
2 tsp lime zest
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 too much if you want it chunky. Serve fresh is best. Put leftovers in the fridge in airtight container.  Enjoy

* You can use a couple ripe Roma tomatoes too. Not necessary though.

Healthy Zucchini Wholegrain Bars

This was another great way to use your zucchini. It could be called a cake as well. You could also put it in a bread pan and call it bread. You can use the name that best fits the occasion. It would be great for breakfast. I sent some in my children's lunches today. :) It is always exciting when I taste that first bite and it tastes really good. They turned out really moist. It reminded me of this recipe. I recently bought a 13x9 stoneware pan. I had been told from a friend that stoneware makes whole grains turn out better, when they are cooked in stoneware. I have been very pleased with the results.

Ingredients:

3 C whole grain flour (I used spelt)
1 T baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg * optional
2 eggs
2 1/2 C coarsely grated zucchini
1 C honey
1/2 C coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 C chopped nuts *optional

Directions: Heat oven to 350. Grease 13x9 pan or pan of your choosing.

1. Measure and pour all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk together.

2. In a separate bowl beat together the remaining ingredients. Then slowly add the dry ingredients being careful not to over mix.

3. Pour into greased pan. Bake until a light golden and cooked all the way through. About 20-25 min.

Homemade Hummus

My daughter who just got back from her LDS Mission, acquired a love for hummus. So she was sweet to make us some homemade hummus for us. It is a wonderful treat when my children make, and like healthy food too. It was really good. I had hummus before, and not really liked it. It was a pleasant surprise to enjoy this. It was pleasing to see my children enjoy it as well. It made a nice addition to our wraps the other night. I know there are a lot of variations to hummus so we will have to try those next time. It is a quick easy thing to make. I love that it is healthy too. :) You could use it for a lot of different things on crackers, pita chips, tortillas, bread, vegetables etc.. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/3 C Tahini
1/2 C water
1/4 C lemon or lime juice
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sea salt w/ iodine
2 T dried or fresh Italian parsley
pinch of paprika
1/2 tsp cumin *Optional
2 C cooked or canned chick peas rinsed and drained
Directions:

1. Pour all the ingredients into the blender. Blend until smooth. Makes about 3 cups.

We will be making this again soon. :)

Tropical Salsa

I have made another salsa with Mango in it, that you will find here. This one had a different mix. It tasted great with chips. It would also be wonderful with chicken or fish. I ate the leftovers for lunch with brown rice. It made a great lunch. It was a nice variation to the normal salsa. I have a lot of wonderful mangos right now, so I can make it again.

Ingredients:
5 ripe mangos diced
1/2 fresh pineapple diced
1 med. jalapeno pepper deseeded cut tiny pieces
1 small onion diced or you could use a red onion
2 garlic cloves minced
1 small bunch green onion chopped small
5 T fresh cilantro chopped
2 T lime zest (smelled wonderful) :)
2 T fresh squeezed lime juice
1 to 2 T honey *optional
add coarse salt to taste preference.


Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. You can then serve or refrigerate covered for an hour.

Have a nice safe 4th of July Weekend!