Just A Soup Kinda Day

Alright before I start talking all about soup I have a bit of a side note.  I was going through my moms cookbook cabinet last night (just for something to do) and stumbled across these, 

These are my very first cookbooks!  Did anyone else have these American Girl Doll Cookbooks or have a slight obsession with the dolls as a little girl?  I had to laugh as I flipped through the pages of the cookbooks.  I can still remember all the recipes that my sister and I used to make when we were little.  Who would have thought I would eventually learn and love to cook!

Just a little childhood memory I felt I had to share with you all!  Just like I feel I have to share these soup recipes with you!  While yesterday was sunny it was still pretty chilly, and nothing sounded better then big bowls of soup.  Soup for lunch and soup for dinner!  I have been flashing this photo

pretty much all week, and guess what I made it yesterday for dinner!  Five and a half hours in the crock pot, the kitchen smelled amazing.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and let me say I thought the soup tasted just as good as the picture looked!  But before I talk about the Crock Posole I want to discuss pumpkin soup.  Since we are in the lovely season of fall it seems pumpkin recipes spring up everywhere.  From pumpkin bread, to pumpkin cupcakes, soups and even oatmeal.  Till yesterday I had never made a pumpkin soup. But as a bowl of leftover pumpkin stared me down from the fridge yesterday I thought to myself why not give this pumpkin soup a try!

Here is my quick quick recipe!

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup for One!

1 Large Bowl of Soup

1/2 Cup canned Pumpkin 

1/2 Cup Black Beans 

1 Cup chicken Broth 

Garlic, Pepper, Cayenne, and Cinnamon to Taste

Here is what you do:

Throw all the ingredients into a small sauce pan and cook until heated through!

See I told you it was simple!

Pour in your favorite soup bowl and enjoy!

YUM!

Here are a few more recipes I would like to try out!

"Vegged Out" Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Black Bean Soup 

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup - I would leave out the Ham and add more beans thats just me!

Now on to soup #2

If you love the way cooking in a crock pot makes your house smell, I think you will love this recipe.  This soup was a hit with my parents, kinda like a chicken tortilla soup.  My dad thought the soup would be amazing with guacamole on top, and maybe some tortilla strips.  I served the soup last night with warm cornbread, yum!

Here is what you need:

2-14.5 Ounce Cans Golden Hominy Drained 

2-14.5 Ounce Cans Chicken Broth 

1-14.5 Ounce Can Diced Tomatoes Undrained ( I used Fire Roasted)

1-4 Ounce Can Green Chilies 

1 Pound Chicken cut int 1 inch cubes 

1 Medium Onion Chopped 

2 Cloves Garlic

Fresh Cilantro 

Cumin 

Fresh Oregano

Here is what you do:

Chop your onion, Mince your Garlic, and cut your chicken into cubes.

Now Place everything into your crock pot.

You can either cook the soup on low for 5.5-6 Hours 

or 

on high for 2.5 Hours

I decided I would cook mine for 5-6 hours on low.

My anticipation grew as the kitchen was filled with the wonderful smell of spices!

The finished  product!

This makes a huge batch of soup, 8-10 servings!  You will have lots of left overs, I plan on eating this for lunch today.  I think adding some fresh lime juice would be a nice touch before you serve the soup!  

I hope you enjoy, and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!

What is your favorite thing to eat on a cold day?

A Rainy Day Calls for Soup

Today was a rainy and gloomy day here in Minnesota, and on those types of days the only thing I really want to do is curl up in a blanket and be lazy.  And you know what that is exactly what Mark and I did.  Minus running to the gym, and to have my bridesmaids dress fixed I spent all day in the house!  It was glorious!  Mark rented a few movies for us and we curled up on the couch with bowls of mac and cheese.  Yes I said Mac and Cheese, I decided I wanted to try the Annie's Organic Version of  Shells and Cheese.

I have to say I was not that impressed, it was a little bland!  However I enjoyed it old like I did when I was little with peas, carrots and well I had to add some garlic to liven it up! Not sure if I will buy it again!

Have any of you ever seen the movie Limitless?  With Bradley Cooper?  Thats what Mark and I watched today it was a bit odd!  Non the less it killed some time!  Along with searching for the perfect rainy day soup to make!  Tortilla Soup seemed to be the soup of the day in the blog world, and as soon as I saw all the wonderful recipes my mouth started watering.  I knew tortilla soup was what I wanted for dinner, and it wasn't hard to convince Mark or my mom into the soup for dinner either!  However on looking in the pantry I saw the house lacked a few key ingredients... let the recipe search begin!  I found this recipe for Salsa Chicken Soup on Taste of Homes website, added bonus we had all the ingredients!  Another added bonus the soup is a one pot dinner, and super easy to make.  I added some extra veggies for bulk and some beans because to me a tortilla salsa soup needs beans!!

Here is what you need:

Adapted from this Taste Of Home Recipe

1 Can Low Sodium Chicken Broth 

1-3/4 Cup Water

1 Cup Salsa of your choice 

1/2 Pound Chicken Cubed

1 Cup Corn 

Chili Powder, Garlic and Cilantro 

1 Can Black Beans 

Cheese and Limes for Garnish 

1 Medium Red Pepper

1/2 Medium Onion 

For Crispy Tortilla Strips 

5-6 Tortillas

Olive Oil Cooking Spray 

Salt, Pepper and Garlic

What you do:

In a soup pot combine Water, Chicken Broth spices and Chicken.  I also added my Onions and Peppers in this step (they were not originally in the recipe).  Bring to a boil and cover for 5 minutes.

Next add your Corn

and your Salsa.

Return the lid to the pot and simmer until chicken is cooked through!

While I was waiting for the chicken to cook Mark and I focused on the Tortilla Strips.  He cut the tortillas into thin strips, sprayed them with cooking spray and seasoned them. Place them in a 300 degree oven and broil them until crispy!  I don't have an exact time I simply just watched them till the reached the crispness I wanted!

Time to serve!

The perfect dinner for a rainy day!  Tonights soup was a bit on the hot side, I used hot salsa.  Milk was definitely the perfect compliment to a spicy  dinner!

I am off or a friendly game of Sorry!  

Enjoy and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!

Plummer House and Festivities Recap

Yesterday before going out to celebrate my parents 31st wedding anniversary Mark and I did a little tour of Rochester.  Rochester has three huge mansions, two were home of the Mayo Brothers (I talked about Will Mayo's house in this post) and one was Dr. Plummer's.  The Plummer house is one of my favorite houses. Not only is the house beautiful, but the gardens are sprawling and studded with beautiful flowers and fountains! I held my Graduation (from high school) open house there and even took some of my senior pictures there.  Dr Plummer was not only a wonderful doctor but helped the clinic in many ways, he came up with a correspondence system that was used throughout the Clinic, and was the first doctor to understand and operate the X-Ray machine.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure!

 The tower in the side garden

 Front door to the house!

 I love these fountains!

 King of the Rock!

We spent the rest of our day relaxing and gearing up for the celebration!  Lets transition into talking about the fabulous dinner we had last night!

Unbearable

Good Morning Everyone!  Yes I realize it is a bit of an early morning here, but the house is unbearably hot.    The house is stiflingly hot due to the fact that the AC stopped working!  I feel like I am back in Indianapolis in my un air-conditioned ancient apartment!  Since my room was an inferno I spent most of the night tossing and turning because I could not get comfortable.  Not only do I not sleep well when its hot but my eating habits change completely.  I only want food that is fresh (well thats not out of the ordinary for me).  I guess a better way to put it would be I only want food that is not piping hot this means I usually eat lots of salad, yogurt, veggies, hummus and tons of fruit!  The heat even made me change my pretty set in stone breakfast routine.  While I still had oatmeal today, decided I would be better off (and much cooler) if I at overnight oats or cold oats.

In my mix:

1/3 Cup Multigrain Oats

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk 

1 Tablespoon Yogurt (I used Organic Brown Cow Maple flavored)

1 Huge Cup of Fresh Sliced Strawberries

1/2 Teaspoon Almond Butter (not in picture)

1 Tablespoon Granola (not in picture)

What I did was mix together my oats, almond milk and yogurt.  I let the oat mixture sit in the fridge over night.  This morning upon waking up I topped my oats with the strawberries almond butter and granola!

Yuuum!  Don't get me wrong I still prefer hot oats to cold oats, but a hot breakfast was out of the question!

Aren't these roses pretty?  My mom cut them off her rose bushes in the front yard!

I know a little random and off topic but I just had to share them with you.

Any way dinner was much of the same thing last night.  Neither my parents or I wanted anything we had to stand in a hot kitchen and make.  Solution you grill, and make a fresh Puttanesca!  The only cooking that really needed to do last night was boil water for the brown rice, and grill up the chicken (added bonus my dad grilled up lots of chicken to use in Fajitas tonight)!  I came across this recipe in one of the weekly Mayo Clinic News letters.  This is a gluten free recipe (not that I eat a gluten free diet) and the news letter also gave information on a gluten free diet.  The article simply stated in bold letters should you go gluten-free?  That caught my eye as the big trend now is to switch to a gluten free diet whether you need to or not.  For people with Celiac Disease gluten free is a way of life.  For others going gluten free is a choice and some celebrities have been raving about the health benefits of a gluten free diet.  Anyways this article went on to say that some gluten free foods lack important nutrients that or body needs.  On top of that if you are a healthy adult and you go gluten free what doctors like to call good bacteria begins to decrease in your digestive system while the bad bacteria increases!  YIKES! Who knew?  I certainly didn't!  But thats enough of my rambling you need to chose a diet that soots you and your body best!  Now on to the recipe!

Fresh Puttanesca with Brown Rice

The Mayo Clinic

**Note-I left out the Capers (not a fan!), and since my mom is not a huge tomato person I used 2 cups tomatoes 2 cups red pepper.  This substitution was in place of the 4 cups of tomatoes originally called for!

What you need:

2 Cups Tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes, bigger tomatoes just aren't looking that good!)

2 Cups Chopped Red Pepper

4 Green Olives Pitted and Sliced

4 Kalamata Olives Pitted and Sliced 

1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 

1/4 Cup Chopped Fresh Basil 

1 Tablespoon Fresh Minced Parsley

1/8 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (I used cayenne pepper, and added a bit much!)

3 Cups Cooked Brown Rice

Here is what you do:

Before you even start chopping up your tomatoes and red pepper get the water boiling for the rice!  Cook your rice according to the directions on the package!

Then Cut your tomatoes, 

Chop your red pepper and add them to the tomatoes, 

Slice both kinds of olives, and toss them into the bowl as well!

Now add your cayenne, parsley, garlic, and olive oil.  Stir everything to combine.

Chop your fresh basil and sprinkle on top of the tomato and red pepper mixture.

Doesn't that look pretty?

Stir everything to combine, and let the fresh puttanesca sit for 20-30 minutes at room temp.  Stir every once in a while, now just wait for the brown rice!

Fresh Puttanesca served over brown rice with grilled chicken!

Yum!  I thought that this dish had good flavor.  I will be interested to try the puttanesca after it has sat in the fridge all night.  My dad thought it needed a bit of salt, I will not disagree.  I am wondering if the capers helped add some salty flavor to the dish.  However this was a good dinner for a hot night, and especially good since no one wanted to stand over a stove in an already stifling kitchen! Well i think I need to go get ready for church.  Enjoy your Sunday, I hope you get a bit more relaxation time in before the work week starts all over again!  

See you all later, and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!

Be Committed

"From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back.  That is the point that must be reached."

- Franz Kafka

Would you ever consider going Gluten Free?

Chana Masala for One

Good Evening!  I feel like I have had a whirlwind of a day!  I got back from my workout and 6 mile run and was ready for dinner!  I first made sure all the dogs went out and got fed before I started, I means dogs have to eat too!  I know I said I was going to make something with beets tonight, but I could not figure out what to make, and all the recipes I found did not sound good!  I knew I could put the beets on top of an elaborate salad but I just was not in the mood to eat just a salad for dinner.  And besides I knew after a 2.5 hour workout my body would need a little more then a plate full of veggies to make me satisfied!

While I was trying to figure out the dinner dilemma I came across a simple recipe for Chana Masala.  For those of you who do not know what Chana Masala is I will explain it.  Here is what wikipedia says Chana Masala is, 

Chana masala or chole masala is a popular vegetable dish in Pakistani cuisine & Indian cuisine.^[1] The main ingredient is chickpeas. It is fairly dry and spicy with a sour citrus note. The dish is found throughoutSouth Asia, and is particularly popular in northern India and Pakistan.

Thank you Wikipedia!  I just love that site, whenever I don't know what something is I head straight for Google and Wikipedia.  Ok I am off on a tangent!  lets get back to talking about my amazing dinner that looked something like this when I was finished! 

Chana Masala with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce Served over Barley!

I followed this, recipe to a tee since I have never attempted to make Chana Masala before.  The only thing I did was cut the recipe in half.  Since I was only feeding me myself and I there was no point in making an entire batch (the original recipe serves 8)!  And lets be real I was hungry but there was no way I could have eaten what 8 people normally would!  

Lets get started talking about this dish

Here is what you will need:

Chana Masala (Half Recipe Serves 4-1/2 Cup Servings)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 

1/2 Medium Onion 

1 Garlic Clove

1/2 Teaspoon Cumin Seed

1/4 Teaspoon Coriander

1/8 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon Garam Masala (I used a bit more) * See Note

1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cardamom

2 Tablespoons Water

1-15 Ounce Can Diced Tomatoes Undrained 

1 Tablespoon Cilantro

1.4 Teaspoon Cayenne (more if you like things spicy)

1- 15 Ounce Can Chickpeas drained and rinsed

*Note:  I could not find Garam Masala in my grocery store!  If you can't find the seasoning either do not leave it out!  Garam Masala is simply a blend of particular spices.  I did a quick google search and found away to make a homemade Garam Masal!  

Here is what you will need:

1/2 Teaspoon Cumin 

1/2 Teaspoon Paprika

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon Crumbled Bay Leaves (I left this out!)

1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cloves

Simply Combine all the spices together, stir to combine and use as much as the recipe calls for!

Now lets talk about how to prepare this Chana Masala shall we?

Ready, Set, Lets Cook!

Start by heating your oil and sauteing your onions.

You want your onions to cook until they start to turn a bit brown.  Almost like that perfect browned color of of a perfect S'More(which actually sounds good right about now!).  They should look something like this, 

Then turn your heat down to to medium and add your spices and garlic!  (Note have all your spices pre- measured and combined in a little bowl)  that way you can dump them all in at once!  

Stir everything to combine, and let the spices toast for 30 seconds.  Once you have done this add the water and stir to get everything off the bottom of the pan.

Once the water has cooked away slowly pour in your tomato juice, and then add your tomatoes, 

Let the mixture come to a boil, when your sauce/mixture starts to get thick thats when you will add your chickpeas.  

Stir everything together you want the chickpeas to be nice and covered in the sauce! 

Heat for 5 minutes, add your cilantro and simmer an additional 5 minutes!  And just like that dinner is done!

Here is the recipe for the Cilantro Yogurt Sauce I mentioned above!

For Cilantro Yogurt Sauce:

2 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt (I used Fage, my favorite!)

1 Cilantro Cube

A dash of Cumin

Simply Stir everything together and enjoy!  

I cannot wait to try this Chana Masala tomorrow once all the flavors have had time to combine.  I bet it will be amazing!  See you all tomorrow, and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!

PS I have a question for you all!  Do you refer spicy food, or do you like your food more on the mild side?  Clearly based on all my recipes you know I like my food spicy!  Night!