Minestrone Soup

Made this delicous Minestrone soup for dinner tonight. Yum!
Adapted from Savory Seasonings

2 TBSP olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. salt
2 celery stalks, minced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. basil
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 small zucchini, diced
1 medium bell pepper, diced
5 cups water
2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste (optional, just make it more saucy instead of liquidy)
1 can garbanzo beans or kidney beans
1 1/2 cups dry pasta (any shape)

Saute onion, garlic and salt in a large pot until soft. Add celery, carrots and spices, cook 5 minutes. Add zuchinni, pepper,water, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and beans. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Then add pasta and cook until tender.

Better Than Ice Cream

 

About a week ago I got a new book, Go Dairy Free by Alisa Fleming. Because I am nursing and my son has a milk allergy I cannot have milk as it passes through the breastmilk. I have really missed my dairy, not so much the milk itself, but the things that have milk in it, such as cheese and ice cream. When I got this book, I was thrilled. It has a lot of great recipes in it. One of the first that I tried was Better Than Ice Cream. Now, I wouldn't really say that it is "better" than ice cream, because what really is? But it is better for you, and a pretty nice treat.

Better Than Ice Cream
from Go Dairy Free

1/2 c. nuts (I used almonds)
1 c. frozen bananas (I peel my bananas that are getting ripe, break them in chunks and then freeze them)
1 c. frozen peaches or berries
1/4- 1/2 c milk alternative (I used rice milk, and I'm sure regular milk would work too)
1/2 tsp vanilla


Put nuts in blender and pulse until coarse. Then add fruit and pulse until chunky. Add milk and vanilla and mix until smooth, at least 1 minute. (Mine came out a little grainy but if you had a "super blender", I'm sure you wouldn't notice the grainy texture from the nuts.)Poor into a glass and enjoy like a milkshake. Yummy!

Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

A friend requested that I post this recipe, found here . I have been buying whole wheat buns at the store for years. And they are so expensive. I came across this recipe, and I LOVE it. They taste wonderful!

Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns (makes about 1 1/2 dozen)

5-6 c. whole wheat flour
2 TB yeast
1/3 c. powdered milk
2 c. warm water
1/4 c. oil (I use canola, but I'm sure olive would work)
2 T honey
2 eggs
2 t salt
2 T vital wheat gluten/dough enhancer

Mix yeast, liquid and 3 cups flour together. Dump everything else in and knead 10 minutes or until gluten is well developed. The dough should just clean the sides of the bowl, but still be a little tacky to the touch. Let rise until doubled.

Form dough into peach size balls and then flatten them, but not too much. Let rise 20 minutes. Cook at 350 degrees about 18-20 minutes.

Bean Quesadillas

We had these for dinner tonight, and they were oh so good. I just had to share.

Bean Quesadillas

1-2 TB olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3-4 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 (10 oz) bag of frozen corn
tortillas (I prefer whole wheat)
cheddar cheese

1. Heat oil in pan and saute onion and garlic until soft. Add remaining ingredients (except cheese and tortillas) and cook until heated through.
2. Heat a skillet on medium and place a tortilla on top, add cheese and bean mixture ( use as much as you want) then place another tortilla on top. Flip when tortilla is light brown and cook on other side.
3. Serve warm with sour cream.

This is so delicous! You can even eat the bean mixture on tortilla chips as a salsa.

Welcome

Welcome to Simply Eating Healthy. I have wanted to start a blog for a while where I could put my recipes to share with everyone. For years now I have been trying to feed my family more healthy foods. It isn't until recently that I have been experimenting with new recipes and trying to feed my family more fruits, vegetables, whole wheats, and less proccessed foods. Because lets face it, processed foods are not good for you and we all should be eating more fruits, veggies and more whole wheats. I haven't gotten up the nerve yet to really create my own recipes, but I will be sure to give credit where it is due for those whose recipes I have enjoyed so much. I hope that you will enjoy my recipes and ideas for simply eating healthy.