italian stew

2 cans diced tomatoes (italian style)
2 cans beef broth
2 cups water
2 cubes beef bullion
1 pound sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1t pepper
3t dried basil
3t italian seasoning

1 bag fresh spinach
20 oz fresh cheese ravioli

cook sausage, onion and garlic until onion is transparent and sausage is fully cooked. add tomatoes, beef broth, water, bullion, pepper, dried basil, italian seasoning and cook for 1 hour.

add ravioli and spinach and cook for 30 more minutes.

garnish with fresh basil, mozzarella and parmesan

give credit: jana

apple squash soup

"this sweet, silky and uplifting dish is the quintessential fall soup. i serve it to friends and family and even send it to school for my children's lunches. pair it with a salad or some sauteed greens and grains for an easy and satisfying meal."
excerpt from Clean Food

1 large butternut squash
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2T grapeseed oil
4 large apples, peeled, cored and quartered
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup rice milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2t ground nutmeg
sea salt

peel squash, cut in half and remove seeds. cut into 2 inch pieces.

in large pot over medium heat, saute onion in oil until soft (about 5 minutes). add squash, apples, stock, rice milk, coconut milk and nutmeg. cover, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until squash is soft. puree with handheld blender and remove from heat to cool slightly. season to taste with salt and serve.

grape, raisn, cheddar appetizer

grapes
raisins
cheedar cheese, cubed
honey

on a platter with a lip, douce with honey. thread grape, raisons, and cheddar cube on a toothpick and place cheddar side down on platter. repeat until platter is full.

give credit: honey girl kitchen

taco soup

again, i followed a recipe and added a touch of my own suggestions. and it was perfect. in the past, i've just dumped random ingredients for taco soup, and it's always been too spicy or too lame. this was perfect. even gustavo (the soup nazi) thought so!

2lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can green chiles
2 cans mexican style rotel
2 cans ranch style beans
2 cans black beans, drained
1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup water
1 beef bullion cube
1t each salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper flakes

saute ground beef with onion and garlic until beef is cooked. drain. combine all remaining ingredients along with beef mixture in a large soup pot. bring to boil on stove top then turn to medium and cover for 1-2 hours.

top with corn chips, cheese, avocado

give credit: betsy

chicken tortilla soup

in the past i haven't really followed a recipe for tortilla soup. this time i did. it was a recipe combination of 2 women from lamesa along with a couple of my own suggestions. it was delicious!

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

1 7oz can chopped green chiles

1 jalapeno

2 15oz cans stewed tomatoes, mashed

1 11oz can tomato soup

1 15oz can chicken broth

1 15oz can beef broth

2t worcestershire sauce

1t each salt, chili powder, cumin, sugar, pepper

1/4t tabasco sauce

1.5c water

1 rotisserie chicken, remove skin and bones

saute onion and garlic in 2T olive oil until onion is translucent.

add all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for 4-6 hours.

top with tortilla chips, cheese, avocado

quick boiled broccoli and stems with toasted sesame seeds

yesterday i ate a terrible breakfast and lunch, so i figured dinner should call for some clean food!

1 bunch broccoli

2T flax seed oil

1t ume plum vinegar (i substituted with rice vinegar because i could not find the ume plum)

2T toasted sesame seeds

cut broccoli florets from stems. chop florets into pieces and place in pot. trim and discard dry ends from broccoli stems. peel, discard outer skins, chop stems and add to pot with florets. add 2 inches of water, cover, bring to boil and cook 2-3 minutes or until bright green and just tender. drain water and toss broccoli with flax seed oil and vinegar. sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

i served this over a bed of quinoa.

give credit: clean food

mediterranean harvest gratin

2T Olive Oil

1 Chopped Onions

Salt and pepper to taste

2t chopped Thyme

1 yellow squash, trimmed, cut in 1/4-inch slices

1 zucchini, trimmed, cut in 1/4-inch slices

1 eggplant, trimmed, cut in 1/4-inch slices

2 cups Italian Seasoned Tomato Sauce

3/4 cup Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese

2T Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add pure olive oil and onions to large skillet on MEDIUM. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 15 min, until soft but not browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange onions in single even layer in 13x9x2 inch casserole dish; top with thyme. Alternate slices of yellow squash, zucchini, and eggplant over onions to create 3 slightly overlapping rows of veggies lengthwise in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dollop with tomato sauce; spread with spatula to cover vegetables.

Bake 20 min. Remove from oven; top with dollops of ricotta. Return to oven; cook 30 min. Drizzle with olive oil.

give credit: betsy

refried pinto beans with chiles

i figured it safest to start easy and familiar, so this is the recipe i chose to kick off my "quest to clean food eating":

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, diced
2T grapeseed oil
4 cups cooked pinto beans
2 4oz cans chopped green chiles
1t chile powder
1t gound cumin
1/2t sea salt
2T lime juice
chopped fresh cliantro for garnish

in saute pan or dutch oven over medium heat, saute garlic and onion in oil until soft (about 3 minutes). add beans and remaining ingredients except cilantro and saute another 3-4 minutes. with the back of a wooden spoon, gently mash the beans to your desired consistency. i like my finished product to be fairly chunky so i mash only half the ingredients. remove from heat, top with cilantro and serve.

serves 6

i served this with broiled tilapia and guacamole.

give credit: clean food

mud cream pie

1 container cool whip
1 bag heath bar bits
1 chocolate pie crust
hersheys chocolate syrup

cool whip close to room temperature. mix in most of bag of heath bar bits and set aside rest of bag. pour mixture into pie crust. top with rest of bits and chocolate syrup. cover and put in freezer until ready to serve.

corn dip

2 (15oz) cans fiesta-style corn, drained
1 (7oz) can diced green chiles
5 green onions, chopped
1 (8oz) container sour cream
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
10 oz shredded cheddar cheese

in a medium size mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. mix well. cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

serve with frito scoops.

a quest

i recently told gustavo that we don't eat unhealthy, but nor do we necessarily eat healthy. he was surprised, assuming he ate quite healthy. since then, we've been talking about about changing our eating habits.

we went to barnes and nobles today and this book was displayed front and center. it called my name, mostly because i like the name of the book and i liked the clean design of the book cover. (marketing victim!). i bought it. my goal is to educate myself a bit (which is what the first 30+ pages will do), then try some recipes....one a week. other than the cover of the book, i was also drawn to the layout. the recipes are divided into seasons. so happy autuum, i'll begin tackling some of those recipes and report on my progress.

autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
-albert camus