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Healthy Crock Pot Refried Beans

I have always loved Mexican-ish foods: tacos, nachos, burritos, oh my! So becoming a vegetarian wasn’t that difficult for me because you can substitute beans for meat in tons of dishes!

Last year, I was so sick of opening cans of refried beans. Is it actually vegetarian or is it made with lard? Which brand tastes the best? And then I would always add things to the beans to make them taste better. There had to be a better way and this is totally it!

When I first started making refried beans in the Crock Pot, I knew we would never go back. Yes, it does take more time and planning than simply opening a can, but it is so worth it!

I know exactly what is in the beans and can tweak it for my taste! This recipe can be made with just pinto, but I do like to mix black beans and pinto beans. It does make the color a little darker, but it is so delicious!

The beans can easily be frozen in freezer bags to keep on hand. The most important part of this recipe is removing extra liquid from the beans when they are done. If you leave to much liquid, the beans will be really runny. If you like it like that, perfect! If you like it a little thicker, make sure you pull off as much liquid as possible. You can always add it back in later if the beans are too thick or it is also a perfect base for soup!

Healthy Crock Pot Refried Beans

Ingredients:

3 c Pinto beans (I usually use half black beans and half Pinto beans)

5 c water

4 c vegetable broth

1 onion, quartered

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp black pepper

Optional: 1 fresh jalapeno, sliced

Directions:

  1. Rinse the beans in a strainer.
  2. Add all ingredients in crock pot, stir to until well combined.
  3. Cook on HIGH for 8 hours or until beans are soft. Add more water if needed. (I did not need to)
  4. When beans have opened and are soft, they are done.
  5. If there is a lot of liquid, remove as much liquid as possible. (The more liquid, the runnier the beans)
  6. Use an immersion blender to blend beans until desired consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a potato masher to mash the beans. If beans are too dry, add liquid back into the beans or more water as needed. 

*I do like to save some of the whole beans, instead of pureeing them. They are so good to just eat plain or in burritos!

 
To freeze: Wait until cool, then put in a Ziploc freezer bag. Lay flat in freezer for easy storage.

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Broccoli Cheese Soup

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, I made broccoli cheese soup.

It was a disaster.

I’m not sure what went wrong, but it was inedible. Usually, even if dishes don’t turn out that great, we still suffer through so we don’t waste food. But this… this abomination of broccoli cheese soup will probably go down in history as the worst thing that I have ever made.

Since that day, I have stayed away from making broccoli cheese soup. Even though I love it so and my heart pines for it, I refused to try to make it ever again.

…Until now. As I’m entering my last few weeks of pregnancy, I’m trying to prepare for bringing the baby home. One way I’m prepping is to make a bunch freezer meals so I won’t have to worry about cooking for a while.

I came across this recipe for a healthy broccoli cheese soup and decided to overcome my fear and go for it!

It came out fantastic! In fact, it was so good that we ate all of it before I could get it into the freezer! So then I made a double batch so we could eat it and freeze it!

I am so happy with this soup. It’s so easy and it is so good! Hope you enjoy it as much as me!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, dice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c of butter

1/4 c of All-Purpose flour

1 c milk (I used Almond Cashew)

3 c vegetable broth

3 c broccoli (apxr 1 head), chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 c carrots, diced (I used pre sliced carrots and roughly chopped them)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 c cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

  1. In a large pot, heat the butter until it starts to melt.
  2. Add the flour and whisk constantly for about 2 minutes.
  3. Slowly add the vegetable broth and milk, continuing to whisk the mixture.
  4. Once combined, turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 min.
  5. Meanwhile, add olive oil to saucepan for medium heat.
  6. Add onion and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Remove from heat if finished before flour/butter mixture is done simmering.
  7. Once the flour/butter mixture is done simmering, add broccoli, carrots, and cooked onion/garlic.
  8. Add salt and pepper.
  9. Simmer for another 20-25 minutes, until vegetables are soft.
  10. Using a handheld immersion blender, puree about half of the soup. (If you don’t have a handheld blender, blend half the soup in a blender). You can also blend more or less depending on how chunky you like your soup.
  11. Add the cheese and stir until combined.
  12. Serve and enjoy! You can add some shredded cheese on top if desired!

 

To freeze: Once cooled place in the either a freezer ready plastic container or freezer bag.

To serve: Place in fridge to thaw about 24 hours before eating. Reheat either on stovetop or in a microwavable container in microwave until heated through.

 

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The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s 9 PM and suddenly I need cookies. So what do I do? Pull up Pinterest and search for some delicious cookies. And I figure, if they’re oatmeal cookies, they’re healthy right? 🙂

But here’s the thing… I haven’t been to the grocery store in a while, so my ingredients are limited and I want cookies NOW. I can’t possibly wait an hour for them to chill in the fridge (which is common with oatmeal cookies)!

So I came across this recipe for the Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies… EVER by Radiant Dust and let me just say, they are the best ever!

Okay, I know I’m not supposed to eat raw egg while pregnant (or ever really), but I did it. The dough smelled AMAZING and I couldn’t help myself! Had I not been pregnant, I may have eaten all of the dough before I baked any cookies.

I had some leftover mini Hershey Kisses from my Peanut Butter Blossoms, so I used those instead of chocolate chips and it was so delicious having big chunks of chocolate mixed into the cookie.

You can feel free to add other types of chips or fruit (like cranberries or raisins), but personally I hate a raisin in a cookie. Especially hidden raisins!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

Yields about 30 – 36 cookies. I forgot to count how many it made and plus, we ate some of the dough before baking!

1 c butter, softened

1 c  packed light brown sugar

1/2 c white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 c quick-cooking oats

1 c chocolate chips (I used mini Hershey Kisses)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, blend butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.
  3. Beat in eggs and then stir in vanilla.
  4. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the mixture until blended. Mix in the quick oats, and chocolate chips.
  5. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets.
  6. Bake for 11-12 minutes (no more than that even if they don’t seem done). Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

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Sweet Potato Bean Stew

My husband has had a sore throat and just generally been feeling icky for the past few days. I’ve been trying to stuff him (and myself) with tons of vitamins and fluids hoping that he quickly gets through this and that I don’t get sick.

Normally, I would really dread my husband having a Man Cold, but he has been a champ this time. He even managed to drag himself to our eight-hour birthing class over the weekend.

I decided this would be a perfect time to try out this new recipe that I actually found on the side of a veggie broth container.

It is so good! It’s so healthy and is super filling.

Usually, my husband hates eating food (especially soup) for days, so I had planned to freeze half of this soup for after our baby arrives, but he has been requesting it every night for dinner! I think we have had this three nights in a row and have one more meal left.

I love the sweet and spicy mix of this soup! I do have to warn you, the longer it sits in the fridge, the spicier it is getting! However, I am still able to eat it without drinking a ton of water, so it’s not too spicy and I wouldn’t change anything for next time.

I usually like to add “toppings” to my soup like avocado, green onion or cheese. But this soup doesn’t need anything. It’s delicious! It is also very easy to edit, so if you like a different kind of bean or more beans, you can surely add them too! I thought I might need to add more beans or quinoa to make this soup a meal, but it didn’t need it.

Sweet Potato Bean Stew

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 c onion (about 1 medium onion), chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped (I used both a yellow and an orange pepper because they were starting to go bad)

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 c sweet potato, cut into 1 in pieces (about 1 large sweet potato)

1 can (15.5 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp ground cinnamon

4 c vegetable broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic until tender.
  2. Stir in cumin, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon; add broth, beans, and sweet potato.
  3. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer 1 to 1.5 hours until potatoes are tender.
  4. Puree 2 cups of stew in blender or food processor until smooth (or you could use an immersion blender). Stir back into stew.
  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Spaghetti Squash with Mushrooms, Broccoli, and Parmesan

A food that has always intrigued me is spaghetti squash. How do you get noodles from a squash?! It’s almost mind boggling.

I love to try recipes with spaghetti squash because pasta is one my favorite things and if I can replace something that’s not so healthy with something super healthy, awesome!

This recipe is very earthy and hearty. It is a combination of delicious mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, and spaghetti squash. I also added broccoli for more veggies. I’m not a huge fan of broccoli, but I know how good it is for you, so I try to throw it in a lot of my recipes whenever possible.

One of the most difficult things about this recipe is cooking the spaghetti squash. There are many different ways to prepare it. You can actually microwave the entire squash or cut it in half and cook it in a Crock Pot. My favorite way is to slice the squash into rings and then roast it. The squash comes apart in longer strings than if cutting it in half, so it is more like a spaghetti noodle.

I discovered this method from Eat Within Your Means and have never looked back. You can read and see the difference between roasting slices and roasting half the squash here.

For the sake of this recipe, I will be using the slicing method, but if you are comfortable with another way to cook spaghetti squash, do it that way. I will say that slicing the squash is quite a task because it is such a hard squash, so I usually have my husband cut it. 🙂

Spaghetti Squash with Mushrooms, Broccoli, and Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 small spaghetti squash (about 2lbs)

Olive oil

8 oz mushrooms, sliced (I used baby bellas, but button would work too)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 head broccoli, chopped to bite size

1 tbsp thyme

¼ c Parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

(If using a different method to cook squash, skip to step 3)

  1. Slice squash into 1 inch rings (try to keep them all relatively the same size). Use a knife or spoon to scoop out seeds. Place rings onto a baking sheet lined with paper towel or on a cooling rack over baking sheet. Salt both sides of squash and allow to sit for about 20 minutes to draw out water. After 20 minutes, wipe water and salt from rings.
  2. Place rings onto a baking sheet and cook in oven preheated to 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
  3. While squash is roasting, place olive oil, garlic and thyme in a deep skillet. Cook for about 2 minutes and add mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are golden brown (7 to 8 minutes) and then add broccoli. Cook for another 2 – 3 minutes, until broccoli is bright green. Remove from heat and set aside.
  4. Once squash is cooked, allow to cool for 15 minutes and then peel the skin away and separate into long “noodles.”
  5. Add the squash with the mushrooms and broccoli, season with salt and pepper, turn the heat to high and quickly fry with mushrooms and broccoli until hot. Sprinkle Parmesan on top while sauteing for about a minute.
  6. Serve hot.
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Best Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

You know how there are those dishes that take you straight back to being a child? It’s spaghetti for me.

My mom made the best homemade spaghetti sauce. I would refuse to eat any other sauce but her’s.

I remember when I would come home on Sunday afternoons after spending the weekend at my dad’s house and as soon as I stepped out of the car, the delicious smell would bring me running into the house.

She always made huge batches of spaghetti sauce and chili. The kitchen would be a disaster. Cans everywhere, sink full of dishes, sauce splattered all of the stove.

Everything she made in the kitchen created chaos. And I loved it.

I would usually make a “spaghetti sandwich” with two pieces of buttered bread and a heaping scoop of noodles and sauce in the middle. I loved to eat for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.

I was that kid that brought a thermos to school with cold spaghetti to eat for lunch.

When we became vegetarian, I gave up on my mom’s sauce because I didn’t think it could ever be the same without ground beef.

After my mom passed away, I decided to pick up her recipe book and explore vegetarian options for her sauce. Below is how I make her sauce now and it’s almost as good as the way she used to make it!

In place of the ground beef, I use mushrooms and lentils to give it a “meaty” feel and to add protein. Its delicious and filling! The recipe below is enough to use for multiple meals or to freeze (which is what I usually do).

Whatever you do to make the sauce your own, do NOT skip the simmering! I know it makes the recipe an all day affair, but I promise this is what makes it so good!

Oh, and also, we had a tradition in my family: whoever gets the first bay leaf does the dishes. I hated this rule as a kid! You get a bay leaf in your mouth AND have do the dishes! Not cool. So if you don’t want this to happen to you, pull out the bay leafs before serving.

Best Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

Yields about 8 cups of sauce

Ingredients:

2 c chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz can of whole tomatoes

18 oz tomato paste

4 bay leaves

3 tsp oregano

3 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

16 oz sliced mushrooms (if you don’t love mushrooms, omit)

water, if needed

Optional:

1.5 c cooked Lentils

2 lbs ground beef/turkey

Directions:

  1. In a large sauce pot over medium heat, cook onions until soft, about 5 minutes. (If using meat, brown with onions and drain off fat)
  2. Add mushrooms and garlic, cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves, oregano, Lawry’s, Parmesan cheese. Stir until mixed well.
  4. Add water 1/4 cup at a time if sauce is too thick.
  5. Simmer for 2-3 hours (THIS is the key!!).
  6. Serve with your favorite dishes!
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Peanut Butter Blossoms (with Mini Kisses)

Peanut Butter Blossoms have always been (one) of my favorite cookies. So after I made these Red Velvet Peanut Butter Blossoms, I felt compelled to make a batch of the original just, you know, to compare the two recipes. 🙂

One of my most vivid memories as a child is heading to my great aunt’s house for Christmas. It was always held in the basement where everyone chatted, drank, listened to Christmas music, and played games while I stalked the cookie tray.

As soon as we descended the stairs to the basement, I would lock my eyes on the cookie tray. I would count how many Peanut Butter Blossoms there were and how many times I would need to circle the dessert table to devour them. Being a good child, I didn’t want to eat them all at once. So I had to make frequent trips to the cookie table the entire night to ensure I ate all the Peanut Butter Blossoms I could handle!

As an adult, they are still one of my favorite cookies and I don’t make them very often because, just like when I was a child, I will literally eat them all.

My one complaint about this cookie is that it is hard to eat with a Hershey Kiss in the middle. Do you eat the Kiss first? Do you eat around it and save it for last? Or do you just dig in and hope you don’t have chocolate smeared all over your pearly whites?

I was ecstatic when I found mini Hershey Kisses! Not only is it easier to eat, but you can enjoy some chocolate with every bite because you don’t get to just add one Kiss to each cookie, but three! Three kisses to every cookie!

But here’s what I will say… I still love the original, but after making these Red Velvet Peanut Butter Blossoms, I actually like the Red Velvet cookie better. It seems softer, more decadent and it’s a really beautiful cookie!

Peanut Butter Blossoms (with mini Kisses)

Yields about 48 cookies

Ingredients:

½ c softened butter

¾ c creamy peanut butter

⅓ c sugar

⅓ c brown sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ c flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

⅓ c sugar for rolling

1 bag of Hershey’s Mini Kisses

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Mix butter and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Add sugar and sugar, mix until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, mix well. Add flour, baking soda, salt and slowly mix into peanut butter mixture. *Side note: best if using a hand or stand mixer, but can be mixed by hand.
  3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in additional sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet. *Side note: if dough is not sticking enough to roll into balls, chill in refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes.
  4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
  5. Immediately press 3 mini Hershey Kisses into center of each cookie. Edges will crack.
  6. Allow to cool on wire rack.

 

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Secrets for an Amazing Grilled Cheese

A few years ago, my husband and I went to Florida. We were going to be staying in a friend’s condo for free, which was an amazing deal!

However, when we arrived, it wasn’t everything we expected. Apparently there had been some miscommunication between the owner and family members about who was caring for the condo.

It was… a disappointment to say the least. It was so dirty and disorganized. I don’t know if you have ever been to Florida, but they have these bugs called Palmetto bugs. They are similar to cockroaches and crawl out of the drains and toilets. Blech. When we walked into the condo, there were Palmetto bugs squished all over the floor! And it looked like someone had been living there because there were blankets and clothes thrown everywhere!

We were so excited to have saved a ton of money by staying at this free place on our vacation, so we tried to make it work. We spent three hours cleaning the entire condo which included my husband spending 20 minutes trapped in a bathroom with a giant, angry spider and a game of hide-and-seek with a lizard in the living room.

When I went to vacuum the bedroom, I discovered the entire wall behind the bed was covered in mold (It turned out that the condo next door had a giant leak and was soaking the walls with water to this condo, creating mold)! We gave up after that. Since it was so late, we did stay one night in the condo, but we left for a few hours to get something to eat.

I was dirty and tired and hated the vacation so far.

We found this cute little diner to grab some food and I spotted my meal immediately: the GrownUp Grilled Cheese.

It was everything I needed. Ooey, gooey, cheesy perfection. They took a simple grilled cheese and just took it to a whole new level.

I knew that when I got home, my usual grilled cheese needed an upgrade.

Here are my secret tips to make an amazing grilled cheese!

The ingredients and bread type don’t really have an effect on what I’m about to share with you.

Obviously the harder the bread and the better cheese quality (don’t use American, please) will give you a better grilled cheese. I usually stick with whole wheat bread, sharp cheddar cheese, and a slice of tomato. Sometimes I throw in avocado or a black bean burger. In the sandwich above, I have used mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, and a veggie burger for extra protein.

Steps for an Amazing Grilled Cheese:

Step 1: Butter one side of the bread. Sprinkle powdered garlic powder and grated parmesan cheese onto the butter. Put butter side down in a skillet heated on medium heat.

Step 2: Add your cheese to the bread. If adding other fillings, like tomato, make sure you add cheese on both sides of the filling so the bread will stick. So it will go bread, cheese, tomato, cheese, bread.

Step 3: Put a lid on the pan to allow the cheese to melt without burning the bread.

Step 4: Once the cheese is starting to melt, add the second piece of bread with butter, garlic powder, and grated parmesan. When the piece of bread in touching the pan is a nice golden brown, carefully flip your sandwich and cover again until the bottom piece of bread is a golden brown and cheese is melted.

Enjoy! Guaranteed this will take your grilled cheese to a whole new level and you’ll never go back!

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Easy Apple Turnovers

If you read my recent recipe for Apple Walnut Spice Muffins, you will know that I have a bunch of Granny Smith apples to get through before they go bad.

Not only did I recently discover that my husband doesn’t enjoy green apples, but I also discovered he has never had a turnover! What?! Crazy talk, I know.

I’m not a huge pastry person. I’m a dessert girl, yes, but not so much into danishes and such. But my husband is, however, we rarely have them in the house.

So when I learned that he had never had a turnover and since I have all these apples just hanging out, I made these Apple Turnovers.

They are so, so easy to make and really delicious!

Eating them warm with a scoop of ice cream on top is like perfection!

I can’t wait to try this recipe with other fillings!

Easy Apple Turnovers

Yields 8 turnovers

Ingredients:

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin

2 tbsp butter

1 c brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp flour

1 package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

1 egg

Optional: White sugar for topping

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat, add apples. Cook and stir for about two minutes until apples are getting soft and covered with butter.
  3. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Mix well. Add to apple mixture and stir.
  4. Cook for 3-4 minutes until dry ingredients has become a thick sauce.
  5. Remove from heat and let slightly cool in pan.
  6. Unfold pastry sheet (repair any cracks by pressing back together).
  7. Cut pastry sheets into 4 squares (you will end with 8 squares).
  8. Spoon apple mixture onto center of each square. Fold square over from corner to corner to form a triangle shape. Use a fork to press down and seal edges.
  9. Place turnovers onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  10. Beat egg in small bowl. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush egg onto the top of each turnover. Sprinkle sugar onto turnovers.
  11. Bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned. Allow to cool before eating (the middle gets very hot!)
  12. Serve with ice cream for a delicious treat!
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Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Let’s talk about food fails for a minute.

I cook a lot. I bake a lot. However, I would never claim to be a chef or a “good” cook. I like things that are easy and that are delicious. I like to feel good about what I’m making and what I’m eating.

This also means experimenting with different recipes, ingredients, cook times, etc.

Most of the time, I make some really delicious food.

…And sometimes, well, my plans go awry and the dish, cookies, whatever, comes out awful.

It seems like it goes in streaks. I will repeatedly make dishes that fail. And yes, I do get discouraged. I just want to order take out. I don’t want to try anything new because it might suck.

So what do I do?

I make something I know is good. Something I have made hundreds of times. Like my favorite Peanut Butter Banana Bread! I feel good making it and eating it!

I tell you this because I don’t want you to be discouraged. You CAN cook. I promise. We all fail. We are not perfect. So do something that makes you feel good, something that picks you back up, and try again.

Oh, and then make this bread, because it is delicious and will make you feel better! 🙂

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 ½ c bananas (about 4)

2 eggs

⅓ c plain yogurt

⅔ c peanut butter

1 ⅔ c flour

1 c brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add bananas and mash.
  3. Add eggs, yogurt and peanut butter. Mix until blended.
  4. Add remaining dry ingredients, mix well.
  5. Spread batter evenly into a greased 13×9 pan.*
  6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
  7. Cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!

*If you want to cook in a traditional  loaf pan, cook for 45-50 minutes.

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