Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad

I got this recipe in a free magazine from Smith's Marketplace. Katey I hear you love chickpea's? I really like this salad and plan to make it again.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 15oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
5-7 artichoke hearts, drained and sliced (I got mine in a big jar from Costco, you could also buy it in a can or fresh)
1/4 to 1/3 cup sliced almonds (if desired, toasted)
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add chickpeas and cook over medium-high for 10 minutes, stirring only to prevent burning, until chickpeas are golden brown all over. When done, transfer chickpeas to large mixing bowl and set aside.

2.Add more oil if needed to pan and saute sliced artichoke hearts until browned. Add artichokes to chickpeas.

3-Add almonds, lemon juice, salt and parsley to chickpea mixture. Eat!!!

Salad, Grains, Beans, Fruit!!!

My advice to us Veggie lovin' friends as we are eating the same diet is, do not skip out on your salads or grains. If you eat your BIG salad at lunch and dinner time comes and you feel like there is no way in the world you can eat another HUGE salad with your soup, bean burger, whole grain waffles or whatever your dinner is that night; suck it up! Just eat your salad. Even if your salad is not as large as your lunch salad just eat it. You will be able to tell the difference in weight loss and general health. I have a testimony of salad.

Don't skip your grains. You must eat those. To me, the grains are what gets me excited. What kind of grain will I have tonight? I love it!

Eat all the fruit in the world. Look at my post on "Just like cheese cake". The sauce that is for that "cake" is so yummy to dip fruit in. All it is is frozen berries and dates put in a food processor.

Eat your beans! I am sure you do but they will fill you up. During my first six weeks I thought, "There is no way I will get on that scale tomorrow and see a loss in weight", but I would loose weight. The more you eat the better the results.

Good Luck! I hope you are all having fun eating this way! It is fun for me to know my veggie lovin' friends are on the same page as me.

Dressing and Salad idea

I figure I have eaten 208 salads since January 4 2010. Therefore, I have become creative with them. Here is a salad idea that is good when you are having a sweet tooth.

I like using spinach but use whatever type of lettuce you want.

Pile your plate with Spinach and...
Cut up strawberries, apple, mandarin oranges and grapes (whatever size you want them)
Serving size of cashews

Dressing

Agave
Apple Cider Vinegar
Cinnamon

Heat the dressing in microwave to make it warm. You can even heat up some of the apple chunks with the dressing.

Pour over salad.

Emily's Spinach Salad

ETL is BIG on salads but how many times can you eat the same salad over and over? Here are a few ways to mix things up.

Spinach Salad

5 Big mushrooms
1 Yellow onion
1 Head of garlic

cut mushrooms and onion to desirable size.
Peel garlic and cut each clove into four pieces.
Put small amount of Olive oil in hot pan (I use olive oil but you can use water), throw veggies in until tender.

Put desired amount of mushroom mixture on fresh spinach, handful of craisins and 1/4 cup of chopped up Almonds. Use a raspberry vinaigrette dressing, olive oil and vinegar or plain.

Have fun with the dressings. It will save you!

Asian Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry

I got this from Kate's Garden Cafe. She calls it 'Spectacular Spaghetti Squash'. We have a link on the side to her bloggy blog which I love. I wish she posted more... her stuff is great.

Asian Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry

1 Spaghetti Squash
1-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, Sesame Seed Oil, or both
2 Carrots, peeled and julienned
1 Bell Pepper, julienned
4 Mushrooms, sliced (I used WAY more)
Large Handful of Pea Pods
2 Cloves Garlic, Pressed (I used minced. I'm lazy)
1 Green Onion, sliced
1 Tomato, diced
Sesame Seeds (ours was fine without)
1-2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar (I used seasoned- left over from RC wraps that Kate posted)

Cook Spaghetti Squash how you like to. Reserve strands. Meanwhile, heat oil and add all other ingredients. Stir Fry until veggies are bright and beautiful but still crunchy. Pile the veggies onto your spaghetti squash and BAM. Your done. Delish!

Just Like Cheese Cake

Every person that I have given this to loves it. I hope you will too!This really does not take that long to make and it it really easy. Good luck!

Ingredients

Crust
2 Cups raw macadamia nuts (I use a mixture of nuts with macadamia nuts because macadamia nuts are expensive)
1/2 cups dates (pitted)
1/4 cup dried coconut

For the cheese
3 cups raw cashews
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup coconut oil (I use coconut milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

For sauce
1 bag or two cups of frozen berries
1/2 cup dates

Directions

Mix crust ingredients in food processor until well blended. Put in cheese cake spring board pan and press down.

Mix cheese sauce ingredients in food processor until well blended. Pour over crust. Let chill in freezer for one hour.

Put sauce ingredients in food processor. This will take 5-10 minutes. You might have to stop it and mix it up again, turn it back on a few times. You will know what I mean when you make it. You want the sauce to be just like a smoothie. No chunks!

Raw chocolate chip cookies (cashew's)

My sister send this recipe via facebook. I love it so much. It takes no time at all and gives you one more way to eat nuts.


• Ingredients:
Cookie dough:
o 1 3/4 cups ground raw cashews
o 3/4 cup ground raw oats
o 1/4 cup Agave Nectar
o 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
o 1/4 cup coconut oil
Raw chocolate chips:
o 2 Tablespoon coconut oil
o 1/2 cup carob powder
o 1/2 cup cocoa powder
o 4 T agave nectar
o 2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Dough: Grind up raw cashews and raw oats in a food processor or blender. Place all cookie dough ingredients into a large bowl and mix by hand or with a spoon. OR simply place all ingredients in the processor and blend (why didn’t I do this!? lol). Mix until a dough forms and you can make a large ball. Refrigerate dough while you make the chocolate chips.
Chips: Mix all chocolate chip ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Roll the dough out onto parchment paper and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Optional: Half way through at 15 mins., flip the chocolate sheet over for even freezing.
When chocolate is frozen, cut into chips. This is the fun part! I used a pastry slicer and it was SO fun making the chips.
Mix chips into dough and have fun!
Place in fridge (if you have any left that is) to harden for about 30 mins. They get real hard! Make sure to refrigerate them on parchment paper or they will stick to the plate.
Notes: If you don’t have carob powder you can substitute it for cocoa powder just as easily. Alternatively, you may be able to sub the agave nectar for maple syrup or honey. If you try this and it turns out let me know!

A New Beginning and Ratatouille

Well folks we have joined the Eat to Live Bandwagon!

Last night Corey and I read together from the book, this morning we went shopping, and we are officially up and running! A few notes:

-I'm not having the kids do this too... Em did you? Katie are you going to? I am certainly involving them with pieces of it, and taking this new start for me and Corey as a chance to be extra diligent about their diet in general, but I didn't think they could get enough calories and fat content that their little bodies need doing the same thing as us... especially the first 6 weeks that are designed for weight loss. Any thoughts mommies? (Whit that totally includes you too!!! Yay!)

-Corey is done with soda. Yesterday he also said he'd like to have meat only 4 times a year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and the 4th of July. WHAT?!? I was shocked. He is so on board with this it's awesome!

-I was SO shocked at how much food I was able to buy with the amount of money that I spent. WOW! Shocked really was the only word. I hope it's that way for you too Kate. I had the luxury of shopping at 3 different stores including a Sam's Club where I could buy cheap frozen berries.

-It feels like there is more but I guess that's it for now. I will leave you with what we had for our first Eat to Live dinner:

Ashlee Ratatouille (Whit I still would like your recipe too!)

1 small-med eggplant or 1/2 of a large one
1 med zucchini
1 large red bell pepper
1/3 of a large yellow onion
1 can no salt diced tomatoes
Mrs. Dash Italian Medley Seasoning (I have a feeling with this no-salt business Mrs. Dash is going to be a big friend!)

Chop eggplant, zucchini, pepper and onion to be bite sized (yes even the onion- I love me a big bite of onion! Corey gave all his to me). Toss them all in a very large skillet with a tablespoon of water. Stir and cook for a few minutes over med-high heat. Add tomatoes and generously season with Mrs. Dash (does it bother you that I used an italian seasoning for a french dish? Just let it go, it totally worked). Cook and stir until almost boiling and reduce heat. Continue cooking until veggies are the crispness you like. Don't make 'em mushy! Mushy eggplant is yucky!

We served ours with a small portion of plain brown rice and cooked butter beans. I had never tried butter beans before. They get 2 thumbs up from the Burtons! I am trying to make beans something that we eat with all types of meals, not just mexican, and I think this worked pretty well. My kids love Ratatouille and I was thrilled that they liked this version seeing as how the one I had been making used a packaged salad dressing and cheese.

I know that the next 6 weeks are going to be hard, and take a lot of work, but I am so excited!

PS- Everyone still wants to do this blog right? We've all been kind of absent lately. Just checking :)

Coming Soon

I am here but I have had no time to sit down and post recipes. I do have a few that I am excited about but I will have to post them on Sunday because it is now 11:16pm and I need to go to my bed.

Emily

Herbal Remedies?

Do any of you lovely ladies have some herbal remedies you would like to share? We are sick at our house this week. And have been for a week. I HATE taking my kids to the doctor and paying the "urgent care" copay and hearing, "it's just a virus" but after a week with no improvement I took my princess in today. And guess what? This time they assume it's "just a virus" but they want to treat it with antibiotics. Can they make it any more obvious they don't know what the heck they're talking about? Good doctors here in our little town are hard to come by. I'm not sure what I was expecting today, but it made me angry.

Anyway, here's our symptoms.....don't read if you plan on reading the recipes later. I'm going to speak plainly here. Runny/stuffy noses, boogers everywhere including the eyes, coughing that brings up more boogers, sore throats, and boys throwing up boogers in the night because they refuse to and/or don't know how to blow their noses, etc., boogers, etc. We've been using saline flushes in the noses, lemon juice in the ears, and today tried a honey/onion cough syrup that worked somewhat. Any other tips?

Sick of Soup?

I'm totally not.

I know I have posted nothing but soup, soup and more soup but it's just so dang good! Soup and dangerously hot showers are pretty much the only thing I miss about winter when it's gone.

I liked this one for lots of reasons:

A- Totally new flavors. The boys totally loved the okra (as did I). And I had never tried anything with Creole seasoning before... but BEWARE: Creole Seasoning is no joke! Whew! Plus there was pepper and paprika to boot! I had to put sour cream in the boys so they could eat it, and my boys have Burton tastes- they can handle hot.

B- SO easy. Frozen, pre-chopped veggies? Awesome. And they actually tasted good! Click THIS which is where I stole the recipe. You can read all about why frozen veggies aren't so bad nutritionally- in fact they may even be better.

C- I have always hated lima beans and yet I liked them in this. Totally didn't see that one coming.

Southern Succotash Stew

1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
12 ounces baby lima beans, fresh or frozen
12 ounces frozen soup vegetables (mixture of carrots, corn, peas, green beans, etc.)
6 ounces okra, sliced, fresh or frozen (I got mine frozen)
6 ounces green beans, fresh or frozen, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 large turnip, peeled and diced (may substitute potato)
1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning (or more to taste)
7-9 cups hot water or vegetable broth

In a large soup pot, sauté onion until soft. Add remaining ingredients along with 7 cups of the water or broth. Cook until turnips and other vegetables are tender, about 1 hour, adding more liquid as needed. Check seasoning, adding more Creole seasoning and salt to taste.

Serving Suggestion: Stir in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to each bowl just before serving.

Ashlee Notes: I get the feeling this is a recipe with a lot of wiggle room. I didn't have thyme or extra green beans in addition to the bag of mixed veggies, and I used tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes. Worked out great! To cut down on costs I used one box veggie broth and the rest water. I didn't find that I needed to add more liquid. It needed to cook down quite a bit I thought... of course I didn't have those extra grean beans. And like I said earlier sour cream can take this down a notch. I didn't use the lime juice but I bet that wouldn't be bad. We ate this with my biscuit recipe below. It was yummo!

Whole Grain Buttermilk Biscuits

You may already have a recipe like this, but if not I thought I would share. This is a family favorite. I make 'em for breakfast or to go with dinner like I did tonight. If you make it go ahead and compare it to a standard recipe for normal biscuits. You'll be pleased with this much lighter, higher-fiber version I promise.

Whole Grain Buttermilk Biscuits

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons chilled butter or trans fat free margarine-for you vegan types ;) - it works too I tried it.
1 cup lowfat buttermilk or sour milk (ya'll know how to make sour milk I presume)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or knife.

(Kate did you ever get a pastry cutter? Everytime I use mine I hope that you got one at some point)

Stir in milk until moist dough forms, and don't worry-it should be pretty wet. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes so that it's workable. Turn dough out on floured surface and pat out to 1/2 inch thick. Using floured cup or biscuit cutter cut out your biscuits. Place on to baking mat and bake 8-10 minutes until golden.

I did something

I added a place on our side bar for the food sites we like and then put up the links for some I enjoy. Feel free to add if you wish :)

PS- I must tell you that I am considering hiring Corey for a blog makeover here at veggie lovin' friends. I love what he did for our Relief Society blog.

--Peace Out

Ashlee

Not Just Chick Food

This week we tried Rookie Cookie's Thai Veggie Wraps. She suggested they would make for an excellent lunch with the girlfriends, (and they would) but my husband loved them. We made a few alterations and really liked them so I thought I'd share.

Sauce:
1/4 c. peanut butter
2 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, (I used evoo)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 t. salt.......(Note: I actually completely omitted this. We don't eat very much salt, and I thought that it looked like a bit much when there was already soy sauce in the recipe that contains 1160 mg sodium in 1 Tbsp.)
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
pinch crushed red pepper

Combine the above and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Veggies:
Combine the following:
1 can garbanzos, (I heated mine a bit)
1 bag coleslaw mix
1 bunch cilantro, chopped, (I only did maybe 1/4 c. And that's a generous estimate. My man don't like cilantro.)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 c. unsalted peanuts

Combine the veggies and the sauce. Wrap, and viola! A lovely light spring-time dinner. Now, my husband thought the sauce was so good that he said he would drink it with a straw, but I thought it was a might spicy for the kiddos, (and the leftovers seemed to get even spicier) so I wrapped theirs prior to adding the sauce. Also, I didn't add the peanuts to the mix, I just put them on each wrap, cause they'll get soggy leftover.

Another note....if you check out Rookie's original recipe, you'll notice that she used edamame instead of garbanzo beans, but I have issues with all products soy since watching The World According to Monsanto. Just google that title and you can watch it for free online if you wish....Ash, this was the one that really freaked me out. Although be prepared for a bit of a snoozer! I thought my beloved garbanzos were a nice substitute. Do what you will!

This Was a Crowd Pleaser

This recipe was one I got from Super Healthy Kids, and modified a bit. It didn't look like anything special, but my husband asked me to add it to the rotation, (a very good sign) and it was the first dinner that Drew has voluntarily eaten in a week. Parker also gave it a thumbs up. Paige will eat anything, so take that for what it's worth. To see the original recipe, click here.


Pasta and Veggies with Sauce:
For the sauce:
Melt 3 Tbsp. butter and whisk in 3 Tbsp. flour to make a roux. Let simmer for 1 minute, then add 1 c. broth, 1/2 tsp. oregano, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. At this point, I thought it looked more like gravy than a pasta sauce so I added some milk, (maybe 3/4 c.?) and a couple handfuls of cheese. I used a mix of cheddar and parmesan, probably totalling about a cup, (I'm pretty heavy-handed with cheese). Am I fired from the blog? I know that probably totally "unhealthified" that recipe.....but it sure made it tasty.

For the veggies:
Saute 1/2 onion in olive oil until tender. Add 2 cloves of garlic, 2 c. cauliflower, 2 c. broccoli, and 1 pkg. peas. Sir in 1/2 c. broth, bring to a boil, cover and simmer until veggies are tender.

Toss all of the above together with 1 box of cooked whole wheat linguine. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan on top.

Here's where I have a question....I noticed at the grocery store that there are all sorts of different labels for the "brown" pasta. What's the best? I bought some that said "whole grain" but is that as good for you as whole wheat? Is that like buying "wheat bread" instead of "100% whole wheat?"

King Corn

Well it's official. I'm never eating again :)

We watched King Corn last night.

Thanks for the recommendation Kate. I can see why you felt a little crazy after you watched it. I'm feeling it too.

I do have to say though that I really appreciated the explanation that they gave as to HOW it got to be as bad as it is. I had only the idea in my head of power-money-hungry people who took things over. It was all pure evil! While I know that there certainly is corruption happening I appreciated them pointing out that the changes in American agriculture also started in an effort to make food more affordable to American families, and I believed that to be sincere.

It's sad the consequences those changes have had though. I for one am more committed to eating whole, unprocessed foods. I did a search too for local organic farms but unfortunately they are still very much out of our price range. Someday though.... In the mean time we'll do the best we can with what we have :)

Love you all!

Ashlee

Eat to Live up date

I have now lost 19lbs = I weigh 147lbs. I feel so good. Just over a week ago I ate a little bit of chicken and it took about three days for me to feel better. I felt so heavy and bloated. Weird! My body just does it want it any more.

Whitney,

Ahslee told me you are doing the Eat to Live program? How do you like it? You and I need to talk over the phone some time. I will email you my number. I would love to hear how you are enjoying it.

Love,

Emily

Pasta Fagiole

This looks incredibly similar to the Savory Bean and Spinach Soup that I already posted but we think it has it's own unique taste and place in the world. This is a recipe that I made as an adaptation of others that I have seen. Strictly speaking authentic Italian Pasta Fagiole does not have chopped spinach in it, but I think the flavor works so well with it that I couldn't resist tossing some in. This is the soup I run to when I have been eating crappy and just want to eat something that will make me feel good again. This would make an excellent home-from-a-long car-trip meal.


Pasta Fagiole

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup onion, chopped finely

2-3 cloves minced garlic

1 seeded and minced jalepeno (if in a pinch you can substitute 1 can diced green chilies but it's doesn't pack quite the same punch)

2 cans stewed tomatoes

1 can great northern (white) beans, drained and rinsed

3 1/2 cups vegetable stock

4-6 oz whole wheat macaroni, uncooked

A few handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped

kosher salt

ground black pepper

chopped fresh or dried parsley

shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

Saute onions in oil over med heat 3-4 min. Add garlic and jalepeno and cook 4-5 min. Stir in tomato, beans and broth. Break up tomatoes with your spoon while cooking to be more 'bite size'. Bring to boil. Add pasta, reduce heat and simmer, covered stirring periodically. When pasta is nearly through cooking add spinach and spices and cook until wilted and pasta is cooked. Serve immediately with parmesan if using.

Emmy's Chocolate Joys

Two months ago I drastically changed my diet. I have always eaten pretty healthy but I needed to make further changes for a few reasons. Many of you know that I am a huge chocolate lover and cannot live without it. I came up with this recipe by looking at others similar to it but not quite what I wanted. Trial and error.

This treat is 100% healthily for your body. It doesn't matter if you are vegetarian, vegan, eat raw or just eating a well balanced diet because you too can it this.

You need a food processor to make this or a really really good blender.

The Glue

3/4 cup coconut milk (comes in a can, usually found by the Asian food).
1/2 cup cocoa powder or carob powder (I use cocoa)
1/2 cup honey or Agave (I use both, 1/4 c honey and 1/4 c agave)
1 tsp pure vanilla
3 cups coconut
2 dates
1/4 cup raisins (if you don't want dates just use more raisins)

Nuts and Seed

You can use whatever nuts and seed that you want. Just make sure that the measurements stay about the same as mine. You may need to add more or even a little less depending on what nuts and seeds you choose to use. You do not want this runny.

1 cup Almonds
1/4 cup Pecans
1/4 cup Cashews
1/2 cup Sunflower seeds
1/4 cup Pumpkin seeds

Throw all of the ingredients in your food processor and let it rip. Make sure it is nice and blended.

Get your cookie sheet and cookie scoop out. Plop the batter on the cookies sheet and refrigerator for at least one hour. You can even freeze these.

Again, these are so yummy and good for you. Feel free to mix things up to your own preference's.

Agave is at any grocery store. You can get twice as much (literally) for $1 less at costco. Unlike honey, maple syrup and sugar Agave is gluten friendly. It does not mess with your blood sugars. When eating it they will stay the same. You can also use Agave in place of honey when eating a sandwdich, on waffles or in yogurt etc. (I am not diabetic.These are just some fun the facts).

Ha ha!

I have been a bit bored at work today... can you tell?!?

As you may have noticed I went through all my old e-mails to find the recipes that we sent each other prior to creating the blog. I just copied and pasted the recipes and anything that you said in the e-mail surrounding your recipe. I hope I did an okay job, and that you don't mind that I did it for you.

Also, I changed my color to orange. My blue was too similar to Katies purple don't you think?

Hope you are all having a happy Wednesday.

Much Love-

Ashlee

PS- Do you think we have TOO many labels on the side bar? Should we try and condense somehow or is it okay with you how it is currently?