Slow Cooker Ratatouille

Guys! I made my own recipe today! It wasn't as beautiful as my fancy ratatouille, but the flavor was very nearly the exact same. And you know what? I have decided I am not in a 'fancy ratatouille' phase of life. I am in a 'slow cooker ratatouille' phase of life. And I am coming to terms with that!

Ashlee's Slow Cooker Ratatouille

4 small zucchini or summer squash or both, chopped in bite size pieces (cubes not circles)
1 large eggplant, chopped a bit larger than the squash (skin on)
1-2 bell peppers (red, orange or yellow work best!), seeded and diced
6 -7 cloves garlic, smooshed and minced
1/2-1 whole onion, chopped fine
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with juices
1 (6oz) can italian style tomato paste
salt, pepper, italian seasoning and red pepper flakes to taste
a squeeze of agave or a bit of sugar (2 tsp?)

Crusty bread, or cooked brown rice, or couscous to serve with or as a base to put the ratatouille atop. (We did ours over brown rice which was good, but I was thinking this would make a good sandwich with toasted garlic crostini and some mozzarella!)

Sour cream to serve with (The french would find me sacrilegious I'm sure for putting sour cream on ratatouille, but I don't care! We like it! Corey likes his without though, and the baby had his without too.)

Cook until the veggies are mushy but not disintegrated.

That's it! Pretty easy, and it made the house smell so good. I am a ratatouille addict! And I am so glad the whole family likes it too. Even the baby thought it was delish!

Slow Cooker Mexican Minestrone

2 cans black beans, d and r
2 cans mexican style stewed tomatoes
28 oz. veg broth
1 can corn, drained
1 can chickpeas, drained
2 cups diced red skinned potatoes
2 cups frozen green beans
1 large carrot, sliced
1 cup salsa
cumin, chili powder, and pepper to taste

Yumm!

Chick-en Nuggets

As in chickpea Chick-en Nuggets!  We got this recipe from Super Healthy Kids and it was a huge hit!  Cory actually loved them, and Jocelyn literally ate every single thing on her plate which doesn't happen very often.

CHICK-EN NUGGET FALAFEL

 1 Can Chick-peas (Garbanzo Beans)

 1⁄2 onion 

 1 clove garlic 

  Parsley

 1 tsp cumin 

 1 tsp salt 

 Dash pepper 

  1 egg

 1 TBL olive oil 

 1 tsp lemon juice 

 1 cup bread crumbs

Mash Beans

Use food processor for onion, garlic and parsley

Mix beans with onion mixture with a spoon

Mix seasonings, egg, oil, and lemon juice. Add to bean mixture.

Slowly fold in bread crumbs and combined until dough is easy to handle.

Use small layer of olive oil in a pan. Shape dough into chicken nuggets and cook on pan until browned. Cool and let dry on paper towel.

©2011 Super Healthy Kids. Amy Roskelley provides resources on feeding your family healthy food. Visit Super Healthy Kidsfor more ideas 

I thought it would be fun to do a healthier version of a fast food meal for our Friday night meal, so I served them up with some oven fries.  I know, I know, not exactly well rounded... not a green veggie in sight...but it was a special occasion kind of meal.  Besides the fact that my pan was too hot and I practically burned the outsides, we all were fans.  They are quite tasty and it doesn't hurt that they actually look like chicken nuggets too. And I used my blendtec to make the bread crumbs from homemade bread, so there was no HFCS or preservatives.  (why do store bought bread crumbs need that junk?)

And speaking of beans...I've been putting up beans in the freezer like a maniac.  I'm embarrassed to admit that up until January, I literally had no idea what to do with a dry bean.  We never, ever ate beans growing up (except a can of refried beans here and there for tacos), let alone having them start from a bag of dry beans.  A little research and a few slow cookers later, my freezer is full of black and pinto beans and chickpeas in one-can-sized quantities. Just a little step towards being more frugal and eating more healthy.

Oh, and my friend showed me this site that I am going to try some things from this week.  The subtitle is: where healthy tastes naughty...how could you not like a site like that?!

Lentil Soup

This is less of a recipe and more of a how-to.  I make a ton of this at a time, because it freezes well and then I don't have to make more for awhile.

You saute an onion, cut up carrots, cut up celery, and sliced mushrooms in a little bit of oil then add a tablespoon or two of flour (I did 2 heaping tablespoons of wheat flour), and then I added 5 cans of beef broth or veggie broth. Then I diced up as many potatoes as I wanted in and added it and 2 cups of lentils and let it boil/simmer until the lentils and potatoes are soft.  

The original recipe came from an Inn in Portland and you add a sliced up keilbasa type sausage in the saute stuff before.  I just made it without and I thought it was yummy.  It is good the first day, but as it sits in the fridge, it gets better and better, but you do have to add more liquid to keep it a soup.

I actually just made this this week in the slow cooker and it was super easy and I ended up with 4 meals worth out of it, because I packed that slow cooker as full as it could go!  To make it for slow cookers, just put the carrots and potatoes in first so they're touching the bottom and sides of the pot because they take the longest to cook.  Then put the rest of the veggies in on top.  Sprinkle the flour in, add the lentils, and then add enough liquid to cover the veggies plus an extra little bit (maybe up to an inch above the veggies).  I cooked it on high for 4-6 hours.  Just until the potatoes and carrots were totally done.  

I put the leftovers in bread pans and freeze them and then you can transfer the soup to food saver bags (or just regular freezer ziploc bags) once they are frozen solid.  Then just pull out a brick of soup later and heat up and you have instant dinners!

Three-Bean Chowder

Another recipe from 101 More Things to do With a Slow Cooker.  I use whatever beans I have in the house, but the refried beans makes the soup a little thicker and less "watery".  It's a good way to get more beans into your diet.

1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans
1 can (16 oz.) fat-free refried beans
1 can (15 oz.) black beans
1 can (14 oz.) vegetable broth
1 can (14.5 oz) diced stewed tomatoes, with liquid
1 medium onion, chopped (or 1/2 cup dried minced onion can be substituted)
3/4 cup chunky salsa
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin

Combine all ingredients in greased slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours.

Vegetable Spaghetti Sauce

This is a hit at our house!  It makes a very hearty, thick and chunky veggie spaghetti sauce.  We had a ton of it left over one day and made a homemade wheat pizza crust and just spread the sauce on the top, no cheese, and baked it and it was so good, Jocelyn ate only the sauce and vegetables and left the crust.  This recipe is from 101 More Things to do With a Slow Cooker.  You just have to love anything that starts out looking like this in the pot, right?

1 large onion, chopped
8-10 baby carrots, cut in thirds
2 cans (4 oz.) mushroom pieces, drained (or one 8 oz. package of fresh mushrooms
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) diced Italian tomatoes, with liquid
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz.) Italian-style tomato paste
2 tsp. sugar (I did agave)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. italian seasoning

Combine all ingredients in greased slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours.  Stir well and serve over hot cooked spaghetti or other pasta.