Veggie Lasagna Soup!

A friend of mine posted a recipe for Lasagna Soup from SkinnyTaste.com & it looked DELICIOUS!

But I like soups full of yummy veggies! So obviously I decided to come up with a veggie laden version of my own. If you know me or have been following me, you know that I NEVER follow a recipe to a T. I always create my own rendition & then blog it. Whether it was good or bad!!

So here it is:

Ingredients for Soup:
Cooking spray (I have a Misto with Organic EVOO in it)
4 True Story Organic Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage links, cut into half moons.
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c Yellow onion, diced
1 c Carrots, diced
1 c Celery, chopped
1 c Zucchini, cut into half moons
2 Bay leaves
3 c Organic vegetable broth (I used Pacific)
2 1/2 c Water
2 c Tomato & Basil marinara (Trader Joe's)
6 oz Organic Brown rice noodles (my kids like rotini more than flat lasagna noodles)

Ingredients for the topping:

1/2 c Fat free Ricotta (Trader Joe's)
6 Tbsp Light shredded Mozzarella
3 Tbsp Grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp Dried Basil (I prefer fresh, but I did not have any so I used what was in my cabinet)

Directions for soup:

In a large dutch oven or stock pot, spray bottom with cooking spray. Heat over medium & add sausage, onion & garlic, cook for about 5 minutes until it starts to brown. Add carrots & celery, cook 5 minutes longer. Add broth, water, marinara, pasta & bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat & simmer for 20 minutes. Add zucchini & simmer 10 minutes longer.

In a mall bowl add mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta & basil. Mix well & cover. Place in fridge until soup is ready.

Makes about 11 cups. Since I like my soup chunky, I was able to scoop out the meat, veggies & pasta to measure in my 21 Day Fix containers so I could stick to my portions as close as possible.

BBQ Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot

This is one of the easiest, yummiest recipes I love!!

In your crock pot place:

1 15 oz can of Organic Tomato Sauce (No salt or sugar added)
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Organic Unsulphured Molasses
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Onion Powder
1/4 c Unfiltered Raw local Honey
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Chili Powder
Pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt

Stir these ingredients well.

Place in sauce 2 one pound pork tenderloins. I buy the 4 packs from Costco & use 2 per recipe.
Make sure the pork is covered by the sauce. Cook on low for about 6 hours. I opened mine at 5 hours & shredded it. Then let it cook for another hour.

There are many ways to serve this. The most popular is as a Pulled Pork Sandwich. I would be sure to choose a whole wheat, sprouted grain or gluten free bun.

I hope you enjoy!!

To DIE for CLEAN Lemon Bites!

Well my lemon tree is in full production & I usually fill a 12 oz bottle with lemon juice, throw a few in the freezer to use for zesting & then keep a few around to put in my water.

Today I was like I need to find a yummy clean recipe for Lemon Bars & ohhhhhhh boy I found a DELICIOUS one!!!! I searched a few on google & skipped by ones that used ingredients I don't normally have or that looked to complicated.

I don't like to spend my entire day in the kitchen.

So when I came across this recipe I was pleased to see how simple it was & that I had everything needed! I obviously must give the credit to Lauren from www.oatmealwithafork.com.

I didn't have the correct size baking dish & was afraid if I made them in a bigger dish they would be way too thin. Clearly thicker is better! This is what it looked like out of the oven. 

And here they are cooled & cut. My pics sure aren't as pretty as Lauren's but the taste is phenomenal! You can dust these with some stevia if you like. 

Ok, enough suspense, here's the recipe: I made a few small adjustments, listed below. But if you'd like to see the original recipe click here.

Ingredients

• BASE:

• 1½ c. Gluten Free oats, measured then ground into flour 

• 1 T. Organic coconut sugar (or another natural granulated sugar)

• ¼ t. Pink Himalayan salt

• 2 T. Organic coconut oil (melted)

• 4 T. cold water

• FILLING:

• 4 eggs

• 1 T. lemon zest

• 6 T. lemon juice

• 5 T. Unfiltered raw honey

• pinch Pink Himalayan salt

• ½ c. Gluten Free oats, measured then ground into flour

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. BASE:
3. Mix together the ground oats, coconut sugar, and salt.
4. Mix the oil into the dry mix (it should look 'pebbly').
5. Mix in enough water to make a non-sticky dough.
6. In a WELL-OILED 9 inch pie dish, (I used the left over melted coconut oil) press the dough into the bottom of the dish (I like to break up the dough into smaller pieces and scatter them around the dish and then press them down).
7. Bake the base for 12 minutes.
8. Let cool while you make the filling.
9. FILLING:
10. Beat the eggs with the rest of the ingredients until a smooth batter is formed (it will be very runny, but don't fret!).
11. Pour the batter atop the cooled crust.
12. Bake for 20 minutes.
13. Cool completely, cut, and serve! I cut into small bites so the original nutrition facts weren't correct & my family ate half of it before I could count how many bites there were. 

Let me know what you think!

P.S. I am sure these are not 21 Day Fix approved but if you used your yellow swap out allowance I think you'd be safe counting 2 small bites as 1 Yellow container. Shhh, don't tell Autumn. :)

Chicken & Dumplings to warm the soul!

The first time I had Chicken & Dumplings I was in my 20's. I was like, "Whoa, where has this been all my life"?

I've searched high & low for cleaner healthier recipes that actually TASTE good. I have made several different ones & tweaked them to my preference each time. I finally found a really good recipe from The Gracious Pantry which you can find by clicking here & I made it. It was pretty darn tasty. The next time I made it I just adapted it to more my liking & here is what I came up with.

Ingredients for Stew
6 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
1 1/2 tsp dry oregano
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 1/2 cups (approx 16oz) boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenders cut into bit size chunks
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 large organic yellow onion, chopped
2 cups organic carrots, chopped
2 cups organic celery, chopped

Dumplings
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
3 Tbsp EVOO
1 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond, but you can use any kind you like)

Directions for the Stew
1. Heat EVOO in crock pot on high or brown setting. Add onion, carrots, celery & seasonings. Sauté until onions are translucent.
2. Add broth & chicken.

Directions for the Dumplings
1. Combine flour, baking soda & salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir well.
2. Pour in oil & milk & mix with a wooden spoon.
3. Turn crock pot to low setting (broth should have been at a boil by this time).
4. Use a spoon to scoop up & round off your dumplings & drop them on top of the stew.
5. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Until chicken & dumplings are cooked.


Since I currently use the 21 Day Fix portion control containers, I measure my servings out in those for my meal. Dumplings=Yellow, Chicken=Red, Veggies & Broth=Green.

It's getting cold outside!

This time of year I really get an itch to hang out in the kitchen. I do enjoy cooking & eating, I just don't enjoy spending countless hours in the kitchen when I could be doing way more awesome things.

I busted out my white binder full of recipes I have collected over time. I am one for finding a recipe & changing it up since I don't really like to follow them either. Ya, I know, seems silly. But really, if I come across a yummy recipe & it's full of ingredients I don't like or eat, then I just start subbing in the items I do like. So therefore I am creating my own recipes. Oh yeah, most of the time I don't really measure either. For example, if a recipe called for 1 cup of chopped carrots & I peeled 2 large carrots & chopped them up & it measured out to 1.5 cups, I don't care, I will use it all. You catch my drift!!

Anyway, it's getting cold outside & I like to eat warm comfy foods when it does. That doesn't always go along with my goals for health & fitness so I compromise. In this last week I have made this recipe twice & it was a hit in my house so I figure I better share!

This recipe started as a recipe from a magazine. I tore the page out & over time have altered it so much, it a whole new recipe.

I call it: Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage Minestrone Soup and it is AH~MAZING!!

Ingredients:
6 C. Organic reduced sodium vegetable stock
1 can (15.5oz) Organic Diced Tomatoes
2 Tbsp Organic, no salt added Tomato Paste
1 Tbsp Organic Olive Oil
4 links, True Story Organic Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage, sliced in rounds
1.5 C. Organic yellow onion, chopped (about 1 small)
2 cloves Organic garlic, minced
1 C. Organic Celery, chopped
1 C. Organic Carrots, chopped
1 C. Dry Quinoa noodles
1 tsp dry oregano
1 can (15.5 oz) Organic Garbanzo beans or Kidney beans, rinsed
2 C. Organic Zucchini, chopped
2 C. Organic baby Spinach, fresh

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet on Medium heat. Add sausage & brown.
2. Add tomato paste, cook about 5 minutes until brown.
3. Add onions, celery, garlic, carrots & oregano. Cook about 5 minutes longer.
4. Pour vegetable stock, diced tomatoes & dry noodles into a large pot. About 4 quarts in size.
5. Add skillet contents to pot & turn to med heat. Let simmer for about 20 minutes or until carrots are soft.
6. Add zucchini, beans & spinach. Turn to high heat for about 5 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

Serve with optional items: fresh bread, parmesan cheese, dollop of pesto sauce.

Serving size is 1.5 cups.

21 Day Fix side notes: I measured out the veggies into a Green container, the sausage into a Red & the beans & pasta in half a yellow. You can measure out to your specific needs.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!! Leave a comment & let me know. Thanks for stopping by.