Chicken-less Chicken Noodle Soup

My mom told me that my Great Grandma use to make chicken noodle soup, with homemade noodles, and serve it over mashed potatoes. I decided that I MUST try this. Even though I don't eat chicken and it sounded carb-o-licious, I knew I could make it work. I've never made homemade pasta before so this was my first attempt. My noodles were THICK (which is good right!) the dough is not so easy to thinly roll out.. I'll have to figure it out on my next try, the noodles served their purpose for this. I also made my own vegetable broth. I've been eating entire stalks of celery lately and I always throw away the tops. Well not today! Today I simmered these ingredients to make a full-flavored broth.

-1/4 of an onion (skin too)
-10 baby carrots
-About 10 tops of celery stalks (like I said, I've been eating a lot of it!)
-4 cloves of garlic
-4 cups of water
-About 6 black peppercorns
-1 TBSP parsley (or fresh if you have it)
-1 TSP thyme
I simmered it on low for about 4 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once I was ready to make the soup I sauteed 1/4 chopped onion in 1 TBSP olive oil over medium heat until translucent. I added 3 cloves of chopped garlic for 30 seconds then strained my broth in (don't get the peppercorns into your new soup!). I added chopped carrots, celery and cooked for about 7 minutes over medium heat.Then I added my noodles, they don't need to cook as long, only about 5 minutes. Then I added a can of white beans that had been rinsed. If you don't have time to make your own broth, just substitute vegetable broth. You can also add any vegetables you'd like. Since I was serving mine over mashed potatoes I wanted to keep the soup uncomplicated. 

My attempt at homemade pasta. I'm going to perfect it and then make a tutorial.

I made my potatoes using my kitchen aid mixer, and I could tell they were going to be AMAZING! Never have I seen mash potatoes so light and fluffy.. I might have a new guilty pleasure... I don't normally eat a lot of potatoes, but these were.... The best. 

Here we have it. Make a little mash potato pool full of homemade soup. Yummy fall meal!

Kale Quinoa Minestrone Soup

One thing I love about the cool fall weather is soups! I'm a huge soup fan! They're so easy to throw together and you can't go wrong with a hearty soup to warm you up. This is my version minestrone with quinoa, and kale (my 2 favorite ingredients). This can be made in about 30-40 minutes, depending on how quickly you can chop. 

Here is what you will need-

-1/3 cup quinoa (this can be expensive, I suggest buying from the bulk section, or getting it from costco)
-1/4 onion chopped
-2 TBSP olive oil
-3 cloves garlic chopped
-1 can fire roasted tomatoes
-1 can vegetable broth
-1 10 oz can tomato paste
-10 baby carrots chopped
-2 stalks of celery chopped
-1 zucchini chopped
-1 potato peeled and chopped
-1 can white beans (also known as great northern beans)
-2 stalks of kale. Remove the stalks and tear into pieces
-1 TBSP soy sauce
-1 tps oregano
-Salt and pepper to taste

I always soak my quinoa before using it. Place it in a bowl, cover with water and let soak for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, saute your onion in 2 TBSP olive oil in large pot over medium heat until translucent, add garlic for about 20-30 seconds, add potatoes, carrots, celery, zucchini, vegetable broth, tomato paste, and fire roasted tomatoes. Use can from fire roasted tomatoes and fill with water 3 times, add to soup. Bring to a boil over medium heat. While soup heats (don't forget to stir occasionally), open white beans, and rinse in a strainer, set aside. Rinse quinoa in strainer (I use a mesh strainer since quinoa is so tiny) and add to soup. Once soup boils cover, lower heat to low, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are soft and quinoa is cooked (it fattens up and turns a little translucent). Add oregano, soy sauce, and beans. Turn heat off and add kale. I don't like to cook the kale, just warm it up enough so that it wilts. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Since I only used one can of vegetable broth I tend it add a bit of salt. Sometimes I will put in about 1 TBSP kosher salt. But I also love salt.. So make sure you add it to taste! 

Detox Day 3- Spaghetti Squash & Chokes

Today I started out with my usual green smoothie. FIND THE DELICIOUS SMOOTHIE HERE. Then I went to the gym for my step aerobics class. This is a PRETTY intense class, there is a lot of ups, downs, kicking, jumping, intense cardio, and weight lifting. I haven't been working out much, so I was a little nervous about my stamina. I ended up feeling GREAT! More than great, I was jumping more and kicking higher. I have to attribute that to the detox. Another FAB benefit, I haven't felt tired ALL DAY! This is huge for me as I usually hit the wall around 2-3 pm. I've mostly been snacking all day, more celery (I just can't get enough of it!), mixed nuts, my usual apple (one a day!). I made kale chips (or baked kale..), spaghetti squash, and artichoke. I was given some cake this afternoon, and I didn't take one bit. Nope, and I sure love cake.

If you want to make your own baked kale (I guess they're not really chips) here is how:
-Preheat oven to 400
-Wash and dry the kale, yes dry!
-Line baking pan with foil
-Spread out kale on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. I like to use my hands and really make sure all the kale is coated
-Sprinkle with salt, or garlic salt, or salt and red pepper.. Mmmm maybe even a little nutritional yeast
-Bake for 8 minutes

 Little crispy, but SO delicious. I've eaten a whole bunch of kale all by myself before

 I also ate some chokes. Artichokes are great because they help detoxify the liver, and they're yums.

 For dinner I made spaghetti squash spaghetti. This is a meal I could eat everyday and never tire of. First I chop the squash into about 4 equal parts and remove all the seeds and stringy string things. Then I put them in a saute pan, filling it about half full of water, bring to a boil, and then simmer on low covered until they turn bright yellow and pierce easily with a fork. I take them out and let them cool down. Then I heat up a couple TBSP of olive oil in a saute pan and saute the insides (it should come out really easily once it's cooked through) add some salt and pepper. 

 My favorite way to eat spaghetti squash is with this amazing marina from trader joes. Really the best marina I've ever used. I stock up on it so that I never run out (it's SO cheap too!). I make a little marina pool, add the squash and top with corm...... I want to eat it again after looking at these pictures... 

Detox Day 2 (The Happy Shake)

Day 2 detox,
Breakfast- Kale smoothie
Lunch- Hummus with carrots, ants on a log (yes again), plantain chips, and nuts
Snack- Grapes and a coconut water
Dinner- Roasted asparagus and a happy shake
Snack- Apple
I'm feeling really full.

 Making the KALE SMOOTHIE

Roasted asparagus is the ABSOLUTE BEST! Here's how to make your own-
Preheat the oven to 400
Wash and trim the asparagus
Place asparagus in a glass casserole dish and drizzle with olive oil
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Cook for 10 minutes and then stir
Cook for another 7 minutes
Sprinkle with garlic salt and enjoy!

 The HAPPY SHAKE! I am so in love with this, I could drink one everyday (and sometimes I do). This is not my recipe, but a borrowed one from STACY STOWERS. I actually had the opportunity to meet Stacy a couple years ago while she was staying with a friend. Her story is amazing and I definitely recommend checking out her webpage. I make my happy shake slightly different and it's still AMAZING. I can't rave enough about how delicious it is. It's changed my life for the better!
Here is how I make mine:
 3-4 cups fresh lossely packed spinach
1 banana
1 TBSP raw cacao powder
1 TBSP maca powder
1 TBSP coconut oil
1/2 Cup almond milk
1 1/2 Cups frozen blueberries
Blend and ENJOY! 

3 Day Detox: Day 1

I'm starting a detox today, and I decided to share the process for anyone else interested in detoxing. I'm not an expert on this subject, be sure to do your own research and find out what works for you.
Let's start with a little background on detoxing.

-Detoxification is the process by which the body eliminates toxins from its cells.
-Toxins are found in foods and in the environment. 
-Toxins can drain the body of energy, and make us more susceptible to infections and disease.

I'd like to do a 7 day detox, but this week it is easier for me to detox 3 days this week. You really need to detox at least 2-3 days to start to feel any benefits, although eating clean for even one day is better than nothing. Everyone has their own "rules" and ways of detoxing. Mine are pretty simple.

-I eat as much fruits and vegetables as I would like
-I can eat nuts and beans
-I try to do mostly raw, but I still cook some meals
-I eliminate all processed foods, sugars, and carbohydrates 

See it's SO easy! You don't need to deprive yourself. If you're feeling hungry EAT. Just eat the right foods.

Although there is a downside to detoxing. Before you feel better you can feel a LOT worse. I've only been detoxing since this morning and I feel sleepy, achy, and a bit nauseous. When you detox you can experience symptoms of illness, thirst, runny nose, irritability, fatigue, aches and pains, fever, weakness, flu symptoms, loss of appetite, and insomnia (just to name a few). Everyone experiences the detox differently. When I detox I swear I can feel the toxins entering into my bloodstream (sounds dramatic I know, but it's true!). The good news is, if you feel bad, it means your detox is working! The first time I tried a detox I felt really bad for the first 3 days. After day 3 something amazing happened. I had more energy, I wasn't sleeping as much, my mind felt clearer, less foggy. I also ended up losing some weight. If you'd like to give it a shot I am going to be documenting what I eat for the next 5 days. If you stick to it, and really detox your body, you'll feel a world of difference! Good luck!

Today I started off with a kale smoothie (which is what I drink every morning). This recipe makes enough for 2 big cups. You can save the extra in the refrigerator and then drink it the next day. It's STILL delicious.

1 banana
1 stalk of kale rinsed and bitter stems removed
1 apple cored and cut
1 orange peeled
About 8-10 frozen strawberries (I buy mine at costco and they are HUGE, if your berries are small you may want to add about 15)
About 10 frozen blueberries
8 oz. Almond milk

I recommend using a heavy duty mixer for this (I love my blendtec) since you need to mix up the kale really well. Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

I had to go to the grocery store and stock up on all my fruits and veggies. I grabbed a banana as a snack. I stopped by trader joes to pick up some nuts and hummus. I ate some plantain chips (from tjs, I checked the ingredients first, only bananas, safflower oil, and salt) and nuts on the way home. After I did a photo shoot of veggies I made some ants on a log (with NON processed peanut butter) and some grapes for lunch and an apple. I have my dinner planned already, a salad with the works, artichoke hearts, olives, tomatoes, avocado, beets, carrots, beans, and any other vegetables I throw on. I'll use oil and balsamic vinegar for the dressing and munch on nectarines, pears, nuts, grapes, watermelon, and hummus with cucumbers and carrots for a snack. Now that I'm writing this down it doesn't sound like a LOT of food, but our bodies don't need a lot of food. It's not the quantity that matters, it's the quality. Plus whenever I detox I get so nauseous that I don't have a huge appetite anyway.

I can't wait to eat that delicious spaghetti squash and those asparagus... Yummers

DAY 2
DAY 3

Yes, I Can

Funny play on words, don't you think? Well, after all I do spend my days trying to teach students how to become writers. First of all, we picked the apples off my tree, and then we picked some more and then we kept picking. Three huge boxes and seven plastic grocery sacks later most were off the tree. This is only a small amount of the total number! Luckily, my son Nicholas and his wife Laura bought me this groovy gadget for peeling and slicing apples, one of the coolest tools ever. You can buy them at CalRanch, Walmart and most other big box stores. They can also be found on line. Cost is about $20.

After peeling, we cut out any bad spots and put them in water containing lemon juice so they wouldn't turn brown. Our first batches were bottled for use in pies. Here is the recipe. 6 cups sugar, 2 tsp. salt, 6 tablespoons lemon juice, 10 cups water, 4 tsp. cinnamon 1 tablespoon nutmeg. Place all these ingredients in a large pan and bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Pack apples tightly into jars and then use a funnel to pour enough juice so that there is only about 1/2" space at the top of the jar. Clean around the top of jar with a warm clean rag and then place lid on jar. Do this until you have enough for your water bath.  

 Bottles need to process for 20 minutes. And then take out using the jar grabber thingy and place on a towel. If they haven't already sealed they will as they cool down. Little tip: my mom used to set her warm iron on top of lids that didn't seal and it really did work to seal them. Ahhhhh so many apples and so little time. Oh course, we are not done, but, we also put apples into the Vitamix blender and pureed them. Then, we poured the liquid through cheese cloth and squeezed all the juice out and that made apple juice. It was delicious!!!

  We put a little cinnamon and nutmeg in our juice and then bottled it the same as the apples. If you are going to can try to do it with family or friends; much faster and so much fun to talk and laugh together. Oh yes, I must add one gratuitous granddaughter picture. She LOVED the apples as long as they were peeled first.

YUM

Looking for something healthy, filling and good for you? This is one of the tastiest healthy recipes I've ever found. Yum sauce is a fabulous, nutritional meal that offers gobs of protein without containing meat. I made this for my grandson for dinner. When he saw all the vegetables and the sauce he said, "Yuck!" But then I put a little on his rice and he decided it was delicious and wanted seconds. Great recipe, I plan on taking it to school for lunch for the next week or so.

Recipe
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
1/2 cup cooked  and drained garbonzo beats
1/3 cup cooked  and drained soy beans
4 cloves chopped garlic
In a blender, combine the above ingredients and blend until it becomes a smooth paste.
Add
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (this can be purchased from a health food store, it is NOT yeast)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons ponzu seasoning or soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 tsp ascorbic acid
Blend until all of the above is smooth.
Serve over brown rice and top with as many different vegetable toppings as you wish. This recipe makes 2 1/2 cups and will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

For more inspiration go to www.cafeyumm.com to explore their recipe options!