Taco Soup

How do you stretch 1/4 lb of beef to feed four people?  Taco soup is a great way to stretch your meat (and be kind to your budget) as well as getting nourishing bone broth into your family.  I know soup is not the first meal you think of in the summer heat, but if you let it cool a little bit before eating (not piping hot) you will find it to be a satisfying meal.   Plus, this is an easy meal to throw together from things you probably already have in your pantry or freezer.  If you substitute fresh vegetables for frozen, just allow a little more cooking time.

Taco Soup

1/4 lb. ground beef (or other chopped meat)
clove garlic
1 Tbsp. chopped (green) onions
3 cups bone broth (chicken or beef)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen green beans
1/2 cup frozen shredded potato
1/4 cup salsa (or more, to taste)
1 cup pinto beans (or other)
1 corn tortilla
cheese (shredded)

Brown the ground beef along with garlic and onions.  I also added a teaspoon of Italian seasoning.  Break up meat & cook until all red is gone.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer.

Meanwhile, cut corn tortilla into 1/4" strips, then cut strips into 1" or 2" pieces.  Stir into soup. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes.

While still very hot, ladle into bowls and immediately add a generous amount of shredded cheese on each serving, allowing it to melt into gooey goodness!  You might want to try sour cream or avocado too.

This recipe could even serve 6 people if you start the meal with a generous fresh salad first and then serve the soup.

Enjoy!
Lisa

Back from Baja

From June 25th to July 1st our family was in Ensenada, Mexico (Baja California) working with a team on an orphanage there.  When this trip was first planned I really wanted to go (I have been on mission trips to Mexico about 6 or so times & speak a little Spanish), but because our goal is getting to Rwanda, I didn't think we could afford for both my son and I to go (my daughter, age 11, raised her own money to go).  However, it ended up that they needed a cook for the team- so guess who my husband asked?  I was quite intimidated (never have cooked for a group of 15 people before), but really so thankful to be able to go.  It was also great that our family was able to be together, since my husband had just been gone for 3+ weeks in Rwanda not a few weeks prior to this trip.

Being the planner that I am I mapped out all our meals, typed out the recipes (tripling amounts for most), and had a rotating kitchen crew from the team to help me.  Thankfully the kitchen there sports three large ovens, two large gas stove tops, and a griddle.  There was one challenge in my planning: one of our teammates had a wheat sensitivity.  With a little digging around the internet for info and recipes (and some spelt flour brought from home) we were able to feed everyone comfortably.  Can you believe Ensenada has a Costco, Wal Mart, and lots of other American stores?  I wasn't expecting to do most of my shopping at Costco and Wal Mart, but that's what we did!

We ate things like: Honey Baked Chicken, with Creamy Potatoes, and Sweet Potato Corn Bread (I made muffins and they were so moist & yummy)!  I baked extra chicken to use the next night in our easy Chicken Enchiladas  (batches made with both corn & wheat tortillas).

I also cooked extra black beans that night so I could make Black Bean Brownies for our group.  Most of them tried it- but not everyone came back for more!  However, I did make the person who can't have wheat very happy!

There are 30 children in the orphanage we were working at (the team was doing some minor repair projects, putting in window screens, curtains, dry wall fixes, etc.)  I was told that as economic times are tough in the US it has an effect on these ministries as well, because Americans are going less and giving less. They asked if we could cook some meals for the kids to help out their food budget.  Now, I'm not just cooking for 15, but 45!  I put on my "big girl pants" and said OK.  We ended up cooking 4 meals for them during the week, breakfast twice and dinner twice.  The first group dinner was Shephard's Pie (here's me trying to decided correct portions so everyone gets some)

served alongside Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos (a team favorite)

I still did soaking of grains/flours during my trip.  This included our breakfast meals of pancakes, baked oatmeal, and  German pancakes (again using spelt flour).  I didn't get to soak the flour when we made pizza- boy did we make a lot of pizza that night!  Those kids love pizza.

We made 5 huge pizzas. The crust had to be spread pretty thin because I just made enough dough for the amount of yeast I had- but we managed.  Our pizzas had pineapple, bell peppers, sausage, chopped pepperoni, and ham.  Oh, and the grated cheese from a $25 wheel of local cheese!

I am so thankful for a great team who never complained about the mountains of dishes that had to be done after every meal too. Another group meal that we made for everyone was Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole.  Seemed like a great idea, until I realized that Mexico does not have frozen hashbrowns: they must not eat them. So, I bought bags of french fries instead & chopped them small.  Here's our bowl of 48 eggs, 3 cups milk, 12 cups cheese, chopped french fries, among other goodies!

I cooked part of them in muffin tins (for easy serving & portions) and what didn't fit in the muffin tins went into a large pan.  No matter what we made, God always made sure we had enough.  I'd have to say that probably no one lost any weight on this trip- whether they wanted to or not!

A few other items we enjoyed were Rice Porridge another morning (well, one or two people may not have been so sure about sweet rice for breakfast), and Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies for a treat another night (if you're following the links you'll notice I got a lot of recipes from the Easy To Be Gluten Free blog and they all were great).

Another plus for me being in the kitchen that week: it was cold in Ensenada!  Well, 68 and breezy cold.  Too cold for me to feel comfortable in my tank tops, shorts, and no coat- thankfully the kitchen was warm so I was happy to be in there a lot!

The team had a great week of working & loving on kids and I am thankful to have been a part of it.

That's my mom who lives in California loving on one of the babies.  It was a blessing that we got to share this week with her too!

Enjoy!

Lisa 

This post is a part of Tuesday Twister  and Gratituesday.

Enchilada Salad

This is similar to taco salad, but because it contains cooked corn tortillas, I thought I should call it Enchilada Salad- sure, why not?  This was something I came up with just because when I eat lunch I make it my job to use up whatever needs to get eaten in the fridge!  Yes, someone's gotta do it.  I was pleased enough with this lunch to recreate it several times.  I think it's both satisfying & frugal (since it's meatless- but you could add meat for more flavor and fun).

Enchilada Salad
portions are for serving 1 person
2 Tablespoons broth (or water)
1/4 cup cooked beans (pinto, black)
1/4 cup cooked rice
1/4 cup salsa (or more)
shredded cheese (as much as you like)
1 corn tortilla
mixed salad greens
Ranch style dressing
optional: cumin, cilantro, cooked meat, sour cream, olives, tomatoes, avocado, etc!

Pour broth into small pot and add beans, rice, salsa, shredded cheese.  (Add in meat also if you want.)  Tear tortilla into 1 inch pieces & mix into pot.  If using cilantro and cumin, add a dash of these and stir.  Warm on the stove over medium heat stirring occasionally until mixture is hot, cheese is melted, and tortillas are soft.

Arrange salad greens on plate and drizzle with dressing.  Drop spoonfuls of the warm enchilada mixture evenly over the greens.  Top with any optional ingredients you want, or just dig in!

Enjoy,
Lisa

These posts have been written ahead of time as my family and I are working with a team at an orphanage in Ensenda, Mexico this week.  Please feel free to comment but I will not be able to approve or reply to comments until after July 1st.

Power Bars

This recipe originally came from the Nourishing Protein Bars over at Passionate Homemaking.  When I tried the recipe for some reason my bars were "missing" something (it was like eating a mouthful of peanut butter) so I let it get soft again (sat the pan inside the recently used toaster oven & it softened right up).  Then I mixed in a bunch more "stuff" and thought I'd share with you.  These are a great in-between meals snack: satisfying & easy to grab one on the go.

Power Bars
2 cups almonds
1/4 cup flax seeds, chia seeds, or pumpkin seeds *gound in a coffee grinder* I forgot that step & will tell you whole flax seeds are not fun to chew! 
1/2 cup dates
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup peanut butter or almond butter
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
4 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey
3 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup raisins or diced figs (I used figs)
2/3 cup cashew pieces
1 cup chocolate chips/chunks (use this recipe for healthy chocolate)

Place almonds, ground seeds, dates, coconut, peanut butter and salt in food processor. 

Pulse for about 10 seconds.  Stir sweeteners & vanilla into melted coconut oil.

Add to food processor & pulse until it forms a coarse paste.

Pour mixture into an 8x8 pan.  Stir in the raisins or figs, cashews, and chocolate chips.  Press into pan.  Chill for 1 hour, until mixture hardens.  Make 4 cuts vertically & horizontally in your pan so you have 16 bars.  Cover & store in refrigerator or freeze for another time.

Enjoy!
Lisa

Please feel free to comment this week, but our family is with a team working at an orphanage in Ensenada, Mexico, so I will not be able to approve or reply to comments until after July 1st.  This week's posts were written & publishing scheduled ahead of time- just for you!

Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpeas

Recently I had a head of cauliflower & I pulled some chickpeas from the freezer because I love cauliflower dipped in hummus!  But then I saw a blog post about roasting cauliflower & I was intrigued.  I also remembered seeing a few posts about roasting chick peas, which I was also curious about.  Come to find out they both cook at the same temperature for the same amount of time, so why not roast them both at the same time?  This would be good for when you want a salty snack...

Roasted Cauliflower (and/or) Chickpeas
1 head cauliflower, stem removed
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or 1 can, drained
4 Tbsp. olive oil
salt, garlic, pepper - to taste

Preheat oven to 450.  Chop cauliflower into small pieces (but not tiny).  Pat chickpeas dry with paper towels.

 

Combine chickpeas, cauliflower, oil and a generous sprinkling of salt, garlic, and pepper in a large bowl.  Stir to combine.  Spread out in a single layer on a cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper). 

Since my cookie sheet doesn't have edges I used the cauliflower to keep the chickpeas corralled & from rolling off the edges.

Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes.  Cauliflower will have a "toasted" look when ready.  Do not over bake or the chickpeas will get too dry.

Some of my cauliflower pieces were too big- the smaller ones were better.

I'm going to have some of these roasted chickpeas and cauliflower on top of my salad today too.

Enjoy!

Lisa

P.S. Did you see Wardeh's post about the USDA food pyramid?  So well put!

Please feel free to comment this week, but our family is with a team working at an orphanage in Ensenada, Mexico, so I will not be able to approve or reply to comments until after July 1st.  These posts were written & publishing scheduled ahead of time- just for you! 

Carrot Cake

My all time favorite cake is carrot cake (or cheesecake- if that counts as cake then it's a tie)!  Since it was my birthday I decided I would make myself a healthy birthday cake- that way we can really enjoy it.  I wanted my cake to also have the benefits of "soaking" to make it even healthier.  I searched & searched real food blogs, but no soaked carrot cake was to be found.  The closest I could find was this recipe for Election Cake (which I had never heard of- and I had also never heard of using yeast in a cake).  Later I googled it & found this information about it's history.

Even though there was no picture of the cake, it had molasses, spices, and dried fruit.  I figured I could sub out the dried fruit for carrots and give it a try.  Pretty brave of me I think!  I ended up adding quite a few things, and I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but we've decided it's pretty good.  Here's what I ended up with:

Carrot Cake
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

12 to 24 hours ahead of time combine flour & buttermilk, cover, and allow to sit at room temperature.  Mixture will be a little dry.

8 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 packets yeast
1/2 lb. butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sucanat or turbinado sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 T. cinnamon
pinch of cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. shredded carrots (about 3)
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. raisins

The morning after you've soaked the flour: drain pineapple juice into (glass) measuring cup & add enough water to equal 2/3 cup.  Warm gently to about 110 degrees (do not boil- you can place the measuring cup in a pot of water on the stove to warm it).  Remove from heat, stir in yeast & allow to sit for several minutes.

Meanwhile, cream the butter and sugar together at high speed until creamy.  Add molasses and eggs and continue to beat.

Mix the flour mixture into the egg & butter mixture one cup at a time.  Then add the yeast mixture, spices, and salt and mix thoroughly until a thick-cake like batter forms.  Stir in drained pineapple, carrots, coconut, pecans and raisins.

Pour batter into pans (one 9x13 or 2 round cake pans) that have been oiled & floured or lined with parchment paper (that's what I did).  Make sure you account for the fact that this cake is going to rise!  Leave in a warm place for several hours or until doubled in bulk (it sure did)!  Wow- that's a lot of cake!

Pre-heat oven to 375 & bake for approximately 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean (mine baked for closer to an hour & it was over cooked).  Check half way through bake time- if top is browning too fast then cover with foil.  Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minues in pan, then transfer to cooling rack. 

This may be more dense than your cake usually is (more like the density of a fruitcake), but it is still tasty.  I found it paired perfectly with Wardeh's vanilla coconut cream frosting.  Right now Tropical Traditions has their coconut cream on sale: buy one, get one free!  If you're thinking about buying some (use some for frosting and some for fudge) and it's your first time, you can use my referral number 5997607 to get a free book about coconut oil.  I've been reading it & it's full of amazing testimonials. 

Enjoy!
Lisa

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays.

Tuesday Twister: Highs & Lows

I tried several different recipes this week.  Some were hits, and some were misses!  I tried a recipe for buckwheat flour pancakes.  Most buckwheat pancake recipes I have seen use a mixture of buckwheat and wheat flours, but this was all buckwheat.  Have you seen buckwheat flour before?  When it was in the soaking stage it looked like refried black beans.  Buckwheat has a very strong flavor, somewhat "earthy" I guess you could say.  It was way too strong for us.  I even tried adding syrup and vanilla to the batter, but this was definitely not for us. 

I also made a homemade syrup to stretch our real maple syrup, using this recipe here.  I adjusted the recipe a little- I only used 1 cup of (turbinado) sugar to 1 cup of water, plus 1/4 cup of honey, and a tablespoon of maple extract.  I ended up with about 1 1/2 cups of a nice syrup that I mixed with a slightly larger amount of maple syrup.  100% pure maple syrup is still the better choice health wise, but this is a budget-friendlier compromise.

Another first for me was making homemade chocolate chips.  My son was begging for chocolate chip cookies. However, I learned that homemade chocolate chips (chunks) can not be used in chocolate chip cookies!  Keep in mind that the homemade chocolate chunks were made only of cocoa, sugar, and butter/coconut oil.  I used the soaked oatmeal cookie recipe, here they are before going in the oven:

And, this is what they looked like coming out of the oven- my son wouldn't even try them.  Poor guy!  All that oil from the chocolate just melted like crazy & made these a crumbly mess.  Better keep the homemade chocolate for things like no-bake granola bars.

So let's finish with some good news, because that's how I always like it!  Friday was my birthday and my daughter (age 11) knows that my favorite breakfast is cream cheese stuffed french toast.  I helped her out by setting some yogurt to drain the night before so she had yogurt "cream cheese" to work with in the morning.  Daddy made us some french toast and then she sandwiched mine with some cream cheese and blueberries, top it off with maple syrup & it was a great birthday breakfast!

I have more recipes to share with you this week.   Next I'll share my birthday cake: a "soaked" carrot yeast cake adventure!

This post is a part of Tuesday Twister at GNOWFGLINS.

Enjoy!
Lisa