Mango Pineapple Salsa

So I have been reading a great book Anti Cancer. It has some great tips on how you can take care of your body better. I love those kind of books.  One of the things he recommends is eating 25 servings of fruits and vegetables a week. He also said it is a good idea to include variety in your servings. So this salsa is a great way to include a lot of variety into your servings for the week. The extra bonus is it tastes great too. It got a thumbs up from my family.

Ingredients

2 C diced  fresh pineapple
2 C diced mangoes (I thawed frozen)
1/4 C red pepper diced
1/2  C chopped red onion
2 T minced jalapeño
1/4 C chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp salt
3 T chia * Optional (nice thickener)

Directions serves 4-6

1. Place all the ingredients except chia in a medium bowl and toss the mixture.
2. Toss the chia on top and then toss the mixture again. The chia adds nutritional benefits also it works as a nice thickener. It is Delish!

Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables

It is my sweet husbands birthday today. We met 37 years on his birthday. When we were in high school. I am so glad I found him and feel like he is half of me. I can guess what he is going to say before he even says it. He is a great father and sweet grandpa. I am so glad I found him. I decided it would be fun to make him breakfast. He loved it.

 I was reading a great suggestion of adding vegetables to your diet first thing in the morning to get more vegetables into your daily diet. So that is what I did today. I added to eggs. It was wonderful. I have found that if you prepare vegetables the right way they are very enjoyable to eat. The average American falls short of the amount of vegetables they are suppose to eat in a day. We should be eating 5-10 servings a day. This recipe could make a great dinner as well.

Ingredients

3 T olive oil
1/4 thinly sliced onion
1/4 chopped red pepper (You could use other colors too)
1 clove minced garlic
handful of spinach
4 eggs beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper *optional
grated cheese *optional

Directions

1. Spray pan with non stick cooking spraying. Then pour in oil and heat pan to medium heat.
2. Put in to frying pan onions, peppers, and garlic and cook until softened.
3. Stir in the spinach and cook a couple minutes.
4. Stir in the eggs, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Cook until the eggs are all cooked.
5. Put on grated cheese if desired. Serve warm.

White Chicken Chili

This is one of my families favorite dinners. It is a wonderful hearty chili that also has vegetables to add extra nutrition. It cooks up fast and is great for a small group or a big gathering. We really enjoyed it today. I hope you do too.

 Ingredients

3-4 T olive oil
2 C Cooked chopped  chicken (you could also use turkey)
1 C chopped onions
1 whole chopped red pepper seeds removed
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 C  chia *optional
4 C water
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1- 4 oz can of diced green chilies)
1-11oz can white shoe peg corn
juice from 2 limes
2-14 oz drained and rinsed great northern beans
serve with
tortilla chips
grated cheese

Directions

1. In a large pot pour in oil and heat to medium heat. Toss in the chicken and let it start to lightly brown.
2. Then add onions, peppers and garlic, and chia if desired. Continue to let it cook on medium heat. If you need a little more oil then add some. Continue to cook until vegetables are softened and slightly browned. (The browning adds extra flavor)
3. Stir in the water, salt, cumin, chilies, corn and lime juice. Let it come to a boil.
4. Turn down the heat to low and then stir in the beans.
5. Cover and let cook for 30-40 min.
6. Serve in bowls. With chips and cheese if desired.
7. Store leftovers covered in the fridge. Enjoy

Red Roasted Pepper Hummus

My family scraped the bowl clean yesterday when we had this. It was so good. My sweet daughter made this. It tasted so good. I never thought my family would get so excited about hummus. We will be making this again. It had such a great flavor.

Ingredients

2 red peppers cut up and deseeded
5 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 C tahini
2 garlic cloves minced
2 T olive oil
3/4 tsp cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp of salt or salt to taste
3 T chia* optional
1 T dried onions
1 15oz can of garbanzo beans drained and rinsed

Directions   Heat oven to broil

1. Place peppers skin side up on a cookie sheet. Broil 5 to 10 min until the skin is slightly charred. Watch closely.
2. Place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 min. When they have cooled down and are ready to handle.
3. Uncover bowl and peel off the skin. Then chop up the peppers
4. In a food processor or blender pulse lemon juice and tahini. Pulse for about 30 seconds to get it nice and creamy.
5. Add garlic, oil, cumin, cayenne, salt, chia and onions, blend and scrape until all creamy.
6. Pour in have the beans and blend until smooth and then add the remaining beans and blend until smooth.
7. Then add the peppers and blend until smooth.
8. Serve right away with chips, vegetables, etc...
9. Store in airtight container in the fridge. Can last up to a week.

Toasted Quinoa Vegetable Soup

Quinoa Vegetable Soup

 So the weather is changing around here. I love riding by bike and seeing all of the vibrant colored leaves that are on the trees right now. I always think about what a beautiful world we leave in. I wish these colors could stay all year. The ride today the air was much cooler. It was still wonderful to be outside.

The pretty blue dishes in the picture were my sisters that I inherited many years ago. I love using them and thinking of her. She is a dear sister that I look forward to seeing again some day. It is fun to have keepsakes that remind of those we love.

This is some delicious soup that hit the spot right on. I had some for lunch and it made me feel so good. I felt warmed up from my head to my toes. It was wonderful to incorporate so many vegetables into it and come up with a fantastic flavor. One bite and you will be hooked. I had it made in about and hour.

Ingredients 

4 T olive oil

1 white onion sliced in thin slices

3 cloves of garlic minced

4 stalks of celery chopped up

6 Roma tomatoes chopped up

1 green pepper deseeded chopped up

1 red pepper deseeded chopped up

1 jalapeño diced up 

3 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric (so good for you)

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1 C red quinoa rinsed off well

8 C water

Directions

1. In a large pot on the stove. Heat up pot on medium and pour in oil, onion and garlic. Stir and cook until the onions become softened. 

2. Then stir in celery, tomatoes, peppers, jalapeño, salt, cumin, turmeric, and pepper. Cook on medium heat and let the vegetables soften a few minutes. 

3. Stir in the quinoa and keep stirring it to let it get toasted while cooking the vegetables. Cook about 5 min. Continue to stir during the 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the water. Turn up the water a little and let it come to a boil. Let it boil a couple minutes. 

5. Turn down the heat and let it cook on low for about 20-25 min. covered. 

6. Take the pot off the stove and pour 1/2 of mixture into the blender. Blend a couple minutes. I left a little texture to it. I like seeing  the quinoa in the soup after blending. Blend the other half of the soup. 

7. Then serve in bowls nice and hot. Yum!

8. Put leftovers in the fridge in airtight container. You could also freeze in an air tight container.

Kristy's Dishes

Whole Grain Holiday Wraps with Vegetables (fun appetizer)

Happy Holiday Wraps

Ready to Roll!

All rolled up!

New product

 I got this fun idea for a fun holiday appetizer. I changed it to make it healthier. This would be fun to take to a holiday party or just enjoy at home. It was fun to find a new product at the store "Greek cream cheese" or you can make your own here. If you are feeling ambitious. I think it would be fun to try different vegetables next time too. You can be creative and come up with your creation.


Ingredients
1 8oz package Greek cream cheese, or Greek yogurt, or cream cheese (softened)
1 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 pepper
1 tsp basil
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes *optional
4 green onions chopped up
1 red pepper diced
3 T dried parsley or fresh parsley chopped * optional
other options: chopped broccoli, or chopped spinach, and dried cranberries
7-8 wholegrain tortilla wraps or I made these
freshly ground pepper

Directions
1. Put softened cream cheese in a bowl. Add the parsley, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, basil, and * red pepper flakes. Stir until it all combined. Set aside.

2. Lay out the tortilla on a clean counter top and divide the mixture evenly on to the tortilla and spread all the way out to the edges. Then evenly distribute the vegetables (You can put on the amount of vegetables you want) on to the tortillas. Then sprinkle on the parsley and pepper if desired.

3. Roll them up. Cover in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge until ready to serve.

4. When ready to serve take out of the fridge unwrap. Slice in about 1/2 inch slices. Place on plate. Serve.     

Tasty Vegetarian Black Bean and Brown Rice Chili

Recipe Redux is here again, and this month we are posting about recipes that are easy to make in a slow cooker that don't include casseroles. Isn't that perfect? This time of year always makes me want the kinds of recipes that heat all day long in my kitchen, making it smell delicious way before dinner ever starts.

It is that time of year that we enjoy a nice warm dinner. My family has enjoyed eating chili like this that you can be creative and add your favorite toppings. This had a nice combination of spices. It an easy recipe to assemble together. I loved all the bright colors in it and it was delicious. This is a chili you could freeze too.

Ingredients
3 T grapeseed oil or olive oil
1 yellow onion diced
1 large red pepper or green chopped
6 garlic cloves
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2- 15oz black beans
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles undrained
2 C of vegetable broth or water
1 tsp honey
1 to 1 1/2 C cooked brown rice
juice from fresh lime
1 avocado diced
1/2 C chopped cilantro
1 to 2 diced tomatoes
* other optional toppings cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips

Directions (Serves 6)
1. Heat oil in skillet. Throw in the onion, peppers and garlic cook and stir about 5 min or until softened. Pour into crock pot
2. Stir in the beans and spices, broth, tomatoes and honey. Turn up to medium heat. Let it cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Then turn down to low until almost ready to serve.
3. Right before serving stir in riceand let it heat all the way trhough for 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the lime juice and serve.  Top with avocado, cilantro and tomatoes. (You can also add addiontal toppings. Enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Shrimp Pasta

This combination tasted so yummy. I am a big fan of roasted butternut squash and shrimp so that made it even better. I am always looking for new ways to eat fish and this option is a great one. The fresh green beans were a nice addition to add great color to the plate.

Ingredients:
1 Butternut squash (skin peeled and chopped in cubes)
2T oil
1 to 2 tsp salt
2 to 3 tsp oil
1 onion minced
5 cloves of garlic minced
2 T of fresh or dried thyme and marjoram minced* optional
1 red pepper minced
2 C water
1 T of Cornstarch or Ultra Gel * optional To thicken
lemon juice from 2 lemons*
12-16 oz of shrimp peeled cooked and deveined
salt and pepper to taste
12 oz pkg of cooked linguine pasta
parsley fresh or dried for garnish if desired
served with fresh cooked green beans

Directions:
1. Put cut up squash in a bowl toss in oil and make sure it gets all covered. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 30 min or until cooked all the way through. You can toss the salt on at the end or in the beginning prior to cooking it. Turn the squash once or twice in the cooking process.

2. In the meantime put the oil in a frying pan and heat on med heat. pour in the onions and let cook a couple minutes. Then stir in the garlic, herbs and red pepper. Let cook together 3 to 5 min.

3. Stir in the water and let cook on low about 8-10 min. You can add thickener at the end to thicken it up.

4. Take off the heat stir in the lemon juice and shrimp and put lid back on the pan. Let the shrimp heat all the way through.

5. Cook pasta in boiling water if you haven't already cooked it. Drain.

6. Take the lid off the shrimp mixture and toss in the roasted squash. Serve some pasta on your plate and serve some shrimp mixture on top. Garnish with parsley if desired.

* I found a new trick to juice a lemon. Roll the lemon on the counter. Toss the lemon in the microwave for 20 to 30 sec. and take out and squeeze. It makes it easy to juice.