Lovely Leftovers

The other day I looked in my fridge and realized that I had a bajillion leftovers.  I had reheated them all a couple times and I assumed that the kids were getting tired of having the same things for dinner.

Kaylee is a huge soup fan.  Like seriously, she could eat a different soup (or stew, or chili) every nite.  She never gets tired of soup.  So, when I saw I these leftovers I realized that they would be great in a soup.

You can honestly use whatever leftovers you have.  As long as you have at least 1 complex carb, 1 veggie and a protein.  Here's a quick list of possibilities:

Complex Carb
Rice (white, brown or wild)
Potatoes (white, purple, sweet)
Quinoa
Couscous
Beans

Veggies
Carrots
Mushrooms
Onions
Celery
Corn
Peas
Green Beans

Protein
Chicken
Shrimp
Fish
Ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, buffalo)
Turkey

My soup was made for the kids so, it was rice, chicken (I took the skin off fried chicken and used the meat), mixed vegetables and carrots.  If I was making it for myself I probably would have used the shrimp from  THIS recipe or THIS recipe.

The Recipe Redux theme this month is " Two for One", cooking once and eating twice.  So, my Chicken Rice Soup is the perfect fit for today.

CHICKEN RICE SOUP

Serves 4-6 

Ingredients
12 cups stock (I used vegetable but you can use any kind)
1 onion, diced (omit if using it in your veggies)
3 cups leftover carbs
3 cups leftover protein
3 cups leftover vegetables

Directions

1. Saute onion.
2. Add stock and bring to a boil.
3. Put in all your leftovers
4. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until everything is hot.

So freakin' simple!!!  Just boil and dump.  It's quick, too!  From start to finish this recipe takes under 45 minutes.  It's great for a nite when you need a meal that is quick and hearty.  It's also good after a holiday.  

Easter:  Ham, peas, and rice

Thanksgiving: Turkey, sweet potatoes, and green beans

Christmas: Ham, potatoes, and corn

How does you family feel about soup?  Love it?  Hate it?  How do you use leftovers in a unique way?  Let me know!

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Thanksgiving Menu 2014

I was watching The Chew yesterday and Carla Hall said something that I agree with 1000%  "Thanksgiving is about food memories!"  and it really is.  I have a ton of food memories from Thanksgiving when I was a child and now, as an adult, my Thanksgiving menu is based on mine.  Recipe Redux this month is about redoing favorite food memories in a healthier way.  And since Thanksgiving is only a few days away I decided I'd share with you all of my Thanksgiving recipes.  

Honestly, what is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?  I'm betting most of you named a side dish and the ones that didn't, you named a dessert.  In my opinion, no one loves Thanksgiving for the turkey.  I haven't had a turkey on my Thanksgiving table in over 2 years.  Last year I made meatloaf and the years before that I made fish.  But really, the stars of my Thanksgiving are the sides.  This year I decided to ditch the main dish all together and JUST make sides.

The  Grain Foods Foundation emailed me this infographic which proves my point.
  

One of my favorite sides growing up was my mom's stuffing {me and 89% of the people}.  {side note:  My favorite was the stuffing that came out of the bird.  YUM!}  My mom's stuffing wasn't super complex or fancy.  And honestly that was what made it so good.  She used to saute the vegetables in copious amounts of butter, she used chicken stock that was high in sodium, white bread, and whole eggs.  Here is my lightened up, remake.

Mom's Updated Healthy Stuffing

Ingredients

Approx. 18 slices of whole wheat or whole grain bread, cubed
1 cup of onions, diced

2 cups of celery, sliced small

1 T poultry seasoning

1 T ground sage

1/2 cup egg substitute or egg whites

1 cup veggie broth 

Directions

1. Saute onions and celery until soft (if you're using regular non-vegetarian sausage you want to cook it too at this point)
2. Place all ingredients in a big bowl and mix together (use your hands, it works the best.  Don't be afraid to get messy!)
3. Place in a baking pan and cover with tin foil. 
4. Put into a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes
5. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.

I usually triple this recipe.  Kaylee could eat 1 whole pan by herself.  She LOVES stuffing!  I actually make my own whole wheat fat free bread to use for the stuffing. This year I might add some kale or spinach to one batch of it.  

What else is going to be on my table?

For breakfast I'm going to do a pumpkin bread pudding.  I normally don't make a special breakfast but, I'm feeling nice this year.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding
15 oz can pumpkin
.5-1 cup brown sugar
3 cups skim milk (or almond milk)
.75 cup egg substitute
1 t cinnamon
.5 t ground nutmeg (or cloves if you'd prefer
1 t vanilla extract
12 slices of whole wheat, or cinnamon raisin bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (if you're using homemade bread it's about 6 cups)

Directions

1. Spray a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  
2. In a separate bowl whisk together everything except bread.  
3. Put bread in baking dish and let sit for 30 minutes (you can let it soak overnight if you'd prefer.  It actually tastes better that way)
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 55-65 minutes until a knife come out clean.  
5. Serve with warm sugar-free maple syrup.

Let's get back to dinner!  I normally have both mashed white and sweet potatoes on the table.  I have found a perfect recipe for gravy.  For veggies we have green beans with mushrooms and onions, broccoli, and rolls.   Normally I buy frozen rolls but, since I have discovered my soy intolerance I am going to have to make rolls.  

Mashed Potatoes (or Mashed Sweet Potatoes)

2 potatoes per person 

Fat Free Cream cheese

Skim Milk

Directions

1. Peel and quarter the potatoes.  Place in a pot and cover with water.
2. Boil for about 20 minutes or until tender. (Sweet potatoes take a bit longer)
3. Drain, place back into pot and mash.
4. Add milk and cream cheese and stir until creamy and smooth.

Green Beans with Mushrooms and Onions
16 oz frozen green beans
16-24 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 bag pearl onions

Directions

1. Saute mushrooms until soft, set aside
2. Cook green beans according to package directions.  Boil pearl onions with the green beans.
3. Toss everything together.

Gravy
There are 2 ways to do your gravy.  They are both super simple and easy.  The mushrooms and onions are optional but, I like it.  I feel like they replace the giblets that my mom used to put in her gravy.
For both recipes
16 oz mushrooms, sliced
1-2 onions, diced
2 cloves of garlic, either minced, or sliced

Directions

1. Saute onions, mushrooms and garlic until the vegetables are soft, and the onion is translucent

#1
Ingredients
Vegetable broth
Cornstarch 
Water

Directions

1. Bring desired amount of broth to a boil
2. In a separate bowl mix together 1 T cornstarch and 1 T water per cup of broth
3. Whisk cornstarch slurry into broth, bring back to a boil and simmer until thickened.  If it isn't as thick as you'd like it then mix together another tablespoon cornstarch with a tablespoon water and whisk in.  
4. Mix in mushroom, onion mixture

#2

Ingredients

Lipton Mushroom Onion Soup Mix

Directions

1. Follow directions on box.
2. Add in mushrooms and onions

Herb Dinner Rolls

2.5 - 3 cups flour (I combine whole wheat and white)

.75 cup water

.25 cup skim milk

1 T sugar

1 package (2.25 t) yeast

1-2 T herbs of your choice (I normally use garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, thyme, and sometimes dill) 

Directions

1. Heat milk and water between 105 and 110 degrees 
2. Add sugar and yeast.  Let sit for 5 minutes
3. In a separate bowl add 2.5 cups flour and herbs
4. Add water mixture to the flour mixture and stir together.
5. Place in a cool dark place to rise for 45-60 minutes
6. Put dough on a floured cutting board, or a stand mixer after it's risen.
7. If dough is still sticky add more flour until it's no longer sticky and knead for about 5-7 minutes until dough forms a smooth ball.
8. Divide dough into 4 sections, then divide into 4 more sections.  
9. For regular rolls, evenly spread dough balls on a greased cookie sheet.  For cloverleaf rolls divide each of the 16 balls into 3 again.  Place 3 pieces into 16 greased muffin tin.
10. Let them rise again for another 20 minutes  
11. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-20 minutes until the outside is brown and the inside is flaky.   

And lastly, dessert!  I found this recipe when I was doing a photo series for Food Holidays.  October 21st is National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day.  I made this and it was a major hit in our house so, it became the Thanksgiving dessert.  After I became sick I stopped using a crust and switched everything to fat free.  It's adapted from Paula Deen's Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Fat Free Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients
3 (8 oz) packages fat free cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15 oz) can pureed pumpkin
egg substitute (or egg whites) equivalent to 3 eggs
.25 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1.5 cups sugar (you can do half white and half brown for a more pie-like taste)
.5 t cinnamon
.125 t cloves
2 T flour
1 t vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add all the other ingredients, stir until combined
3. Pour into a 9-inch springform pan, and bake for 1 hour.  
4. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 15 minutes.  
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours until cold.

You can also prepare your cheesecake in a bain marie (water bath.) 

1. Line springform pan with tin foil.  
2. Pour in cheesecake batter.
3. Place springform pan in a roasting pan and pour hot water into the roasting pan so it comes about halfway up the springform.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 70-75 minutes.
5. Remove from water bath, and cool on rack until barely warm
6. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

That's it!  That's my menu!  What's on yours?  Anything exciting?  What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

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Veggie Nachos. Sneaky Sneaky

Inevitably the kids gets hungry 10-15 minutes before dinner.  Don't you love when that happens??  It's always nice to have a recipe that is super quick and will subdue the hungry troops when dinner is taking longer than expected.  

Even with appetizers I like them to be nutritionally well rounded.  Canned vegetables are great to keep on hand to add to your dishes.  The one thing that bugs me about canned vegetables is the amount of space they take up.  My pantry is pretty small and with a family of 5 it's normally pretty packed.  

Trying to keep lots of cans in my pantry is like trying to keep a toddler still.  It's difficult.  That's the nice thing about Libby's new line of Vegetable Pouches.  They are a time saving solution for healthier meals.  Libby's is introducing 5 vegetables, sliced carrots, sweet peas, cut green eans, mixed vegetables and sweet corn.  They are all shelf-stable and microwaveable.  They don't take up as mich space as cans.  1 can takes up as much room as 2 or 3 pouches.  This new line is great for some other reasons too.

1. The packaging is microwavable and cooks in less than 1 minute {Gotta love quick foods!} 
2. It's flexible and has no sharp edges  {Great when you have a young child who wants to help}
3. They won't dent {Which means you'll never have an issue opening them}
4. They stand up {No rolling away}
5. Environmentally friendly:  Uses 75% less energy to produce ouch packaging.  Waste is easily compressed, which reduced home disposal and landfills {Love saving Mother Earth}
6. Easy-to-open, easy-to-carry {great when you're juggling a baby and dinner}
7. Packaging made with BPA non-intent materials

They will be rolling out in select Walmarts this fall and will be available nationwide in January.  

Libby's challenged me to create a dish that takes less than 10 minutes using their new Vegetable Pouches.  I received free samples of Libby's new Vegetable Pouches and by posting this recipe I am eligible to win prizes associated with this contest.  I was not compensated for my time.   

So back to my hungry kids.  One of their favorite appetizers is nachos.  These nachos are packed with vitamins and minerals.

Veggie Packed Nachos
Ingredients
1 cup of cheese sauce/1 cup of shredded reduced fat cheese
1 cup of salsa
1 package of Libby's Vegetable Pouch Sweet Corn
1 package of Libby's Vegetable Pouch Cut Green Beans
1 package of Libby's Vegetable Pouch Sweet Peas
Tortilla chips (store bought or homemade)
Fat Free Sour Cream (optional)
Sliced Jalapenos (optional)
Directions

1. In a microwavable bowl put the cheese sauce or cheese and the salsa.  Microwave on high 2-4 minutes, stirring every 20-60 seconds until the cheese melts.
2. Heat the Libby's Vegetable Pouches Sweet Corn, Cut Green Beans and Sweet Peas according to the package directions, drain and add to the cheese, salsa mixture.
3. Stir to coat the vegetables with the cheese sauce.
4. Place a layer of tortilla chips on a plate, pour half the cheese sauce over chips, place another layer of chips, then the rest of the cheese sauce.  Top with sour cream and jalapenos if you want.

In under 10 minutes you have a healthy appetizer that will make the whole family happy.

Do you have any 10 minute recipes that your family loves?

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It's Gonna Be A While.

Get ready to sit for a bit because this is going to be a bit long.  I have so much to tell you!  

Today is the 22nd.  That means that it's Recipe Redux day!  Recipe Redux is focused on taking delicious dishes, keeping them delicious, but making them better for you.  Every month there is a different theme.  This month's theme is 

Bars & Bites for Brown Bags
Whether you pack your lunch in a bento box, a brown bag or a retro cartoon character lunch box, don’t forget the bars and bites. Small squares or round bites can pack nutrition into a sweet or savory taste. Show us your favorite way to jazz up any type of lunch box.

With 3 kids that take their lunch every day, a husband who likes to snack and me, who wants to occasionally be able to feel like she's eating like a "normal person", I love finding healthy snack ideas.  Store bought chips don't last very long, they aren't healthy and they are so darn expensive.  I love to find alternatives to potato chips.  I've made apple chips, acorn squash chips, and banana chips before and everyone loved them.  I wanted to try to tackle a different, cheap vegetable.  Right now, zucchini is about $1.80 a pound.  So, why not make triple the chips for the cost of 1 bag of potato chips?  

This recipe is one that I call "Stupid Simple".  There's nothing to it and anyone can make it.  

Zucchini Chips
Zucchini 
2 T olive oil (alternate:  Pan spray)
herbs and spices (Possible options: garlic, onion, cumin,chili powder, cayenne)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 225
2. Slice zucchini fairly thin (I used my mandolin)
3. Toss zucchini slices with the olive oil and place on a greased baking sheet.  (Option 2: grease baking sheet then spray the slices with pan spray)
4. Option 1) Bake for 2-2.5 hours until they are crispy
5. Option 2) Spread them out evenly on the trays of your dehydrator and let them dry for about 12 hours, until they are nice and crispy

You can also soak the squash chips in equals parts vinegar and water (about 1 cup of each per large zucchini) then bake/dehydrate them.  This will turn it into a salt and vinegar chip.  For a sweet chip, sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.

Hope you enjoy these!  I know the girls do.  

The title of my post refers to more than just the length of this post.  It also is referring to the fact that I have decided to push the date of my first competition back.  There are a few areas that are not tightening up as quickly as I want them to be and my coach and I decided it would be better to give myself more time.  Honestly though, if these problem areas don't tighten up I'm not competing at all.  The new date of my competition is November 15.  That means I have added 6 extra weeks to my training.  I'm not happy about it.  Mostly because of the fact I feel like I have had my eating restricted FOREVER.  I was really looking forward to being able to eat normally again.  I'm tired of fish and veggies.  REALLY tired of it.  I've been training since March and had my diet restricted since May.  But, I will get through it.  

Diet
Same as always.  My new plan started and I have 2 days when I'm allowed no complex carbs and that was rough.  

Workouts
I'm so sore today from pushing myself all week.  I switched my off day from Wednesday to Tuesday because Sunny didn't start school until Wednesday and I had her all day.  Next week I'll be able to take my rest days properly and I hopefully won't be as sore.

Pardon the crappy pictures.

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