Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts with Parmesean

Dennis hates Brussel sprouts but I love them! I found this recipe in my Flexitarian Cookbook. I made it for a lunch but it could be a nice side dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup brussel sprouts cut in half
1 potato cut into cubes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup rinsed navy beans
parmesean cheese to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss brussel sprouts, potatoes, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Spread on baking sheet and cook 30-40 minutes until veggies are tender (turn veggies occasionally to cook evenly). Add beans for the last 15 minutes of baking and serve topped with parmesean.

Veggie Tortellini Soup

Taken from "Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast"

This was really easy and really yummy. . .

Ingredients:

1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

1 can condensed bean with bacon soup (undiluted)

3 cups water

1 16 oz. bag frozen italian style veggies

basil, oregano, parsley, pepper to taste (aprox. 1/4 teaspoon of each)

1/2 of 9 oz package fresh cheese tortellini

fresh grated parmesean cheese to taste

Directions:

Combine first 6 ingredients; cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add pasta; reduce to medium heat. Cook 7 minutes until pasta and veggies are tender. Serve topped with parmesean.

Yield: 6 servings

Guacamole Bacon Burger

Wow it's been a long time since I have put anything on this site!!! Mostly because I have been wildly busy and we have eaten A LOT of take-out which is awful. This week I was bound and determined to eat better!

I found another yummy recipe in my Flexitarian cookbook: The Guacamole Bacon Burger!

Ingredients:

Avacado

lettuce

tomato

Garden burger patty of your choice

cooked bacon

whole wheat bun

fresh grated parmesean

garlic salt to taste

a little bit of butter

Directions:

Toast whole wheat bun with butter, garlic salt and parmesean. Meanwhile cook up bacon (I used one slice on my burger but use what you like) and mash up an avacado, slice tomatoes and get lettuce ready.

Then assemble burger. I slathered the guacamole as my condiment and then just assembled the rest. Really easy and really yummy. I rarely enjoy my lunches but this really was good. Even Cadey liked it!!

Yep, I do it all!

Today I made homemade bread, homemade butter and topped it with my homemade jam! Yep, that's right I do it all!!! Sometimes I really feel I deserve a pat on the back, so that's what I am doing right now!!! It's been a long day, sorry for the goofiness! Here are the bread and butter recipes:

Butter

Couldn't be easier and a fun project to do with your kids!

Ingredients:

Heavy cream

Kosher salt (regular salt works too)

Directions:

Put cream and butter in jar (I didn't even measure, maybe 1/2 cup cream and a tsp. salt?)

Shake it vigorously until butter forms. Drain off excess liquid. Spread immediately or chill in refrigerator.

Amish White Bread

LOVE this recipe. My bread NEVER turns out, but this recipe just works for me! It always rises beautifully and gets golden brown and DELICIOUS! I got it from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water

2/3 cup white sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. yeast

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

5-6 cups flour

Directions:

In a LARGE bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water and stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast is foamy. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, turn dough to coat (so won't dry out). Cover with damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch dough down, knead a few minutes and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise 30 minutes or until dough has risen above bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

***One thing I do to help the rising process is that I turn my oven onto its lowest heat and set my bowls on or near the oven to rise. This is especially helpful when baking in the winter months.

Another Fun Site

This one reminds me of the "Decptively Delicious" cookbook. I am going to use the ideas in my photos, I need some cute dishes!!! It has healthy kid food ideas, my kids don't eat anyway, but maybe somethings will just be good to try for Dennis and myself even if they are sorta kiddy food!!!

Desserts: No Bake Style

Will really wanted cookies but I really didn't want to turn on the oven to make cookies so I made chocolate no bake cookies! He hated them but Dennis, Cadey, Ian and I loved them!

I got the recipe on-line from about.com. Here it is:

Ingredients:
•2 cups sugar
•1/2 cup milk
•1/2 cup cocoa
•pinch salt
•1/2 cup butter
•1 cup peanut butter
•1 tsp. vanilla
•3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
Preparation:
In large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, cocoa, salt, and butter and mix well. Bring to a boil and cover saucepan for 30 seconds to allow steam to wash sugar crystals down sides of pan. Stir mixture and bring it to a boil that can't be stirred down for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Add oatmeal and mix well. Do not use regular or instant oatmeal; quick-cooking oatmeal is essential to the success of this recipe.
Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to let the oatmeal absorb some of the liquid.

Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment lined baking sheets or Silpat sheets. Let cool until you can touch the mixture; then reshape the cookies to make them more a ball shape. Let cool completely; store tightly covered at room temperature. You can also pour this mixture into a 9" square pan that has been greased with unsalted butter, let cool, then cut into squares.

Nachos

Summer cooking is here to stay!!! It has been so hot in Vegas, I hate turning my oven on!! So we have been trying to eat without it as much as possible. The other night we made nachos. We did use the oven for about 10 minutes to melt all the cheese, but most of it was done stove top. Turned out yummy, especially with homemade guacamole!!! (We just mash up 1 1/2 to 2 avacados, season with cummin, salt and pepper and throw in some tomatoes and lime juice, amounts are to taste).

We also made yummy BLT sandwiches which are another cool summer meal. Tonight it's a Cobb Salad. Hard boiled eggs, deli meat, lettuce tomatoes, cheese, and whatever sounds good in your salad. I am not sure if that is the true definition of a cobb salad, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I am not gone, I am just behind in photographing our food and blogging about it. Hope those last three give you at least a few ideas for summer eating!