Melissa's Cooking!

With the sweet potatoes and apple cider stewed together with the juicy diced tomatoes and veggie broth, and with the addition of Italian sausage, it seriously tastes what Fall should taste like. A bit on the sweeter side, but again, very seasonal and delicious. I found this recipe online, made my own adjustments and it turned out to be super yummy. Needs a tad of tweaking, but what I made is quite good!

Again, like the Burger Soup, feel free to use animal sausage…but I used the Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages…which added a nice flavor to the overall soup.

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 box of Veggie Broth (4 cups)
• 1-28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of black beans
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1.5 tsp of cumin
• 2 tsp of paprika
• 1.5 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 1 package of Field Roast Grain Meat Italian Sausages (or 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey)
•1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes chopped in small cubes)
• 2 cups apple cider

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes…Enjoy!

Note: This is plenty for a family of 4 to 6, but if it’s just the 2 of you, you will have enough for lunch and dinner the next day

This is a recipe that I came up with and it’s a one that we love. I’ll make this often cause it’s easy and good and nutritious! Quinoa, if you’ve never had it, is really good by itself, but adds a good texture to soups, stews and chili. Quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source, with it’s protein content being very high (12%–18%)…good for the vegetarians!

Ingredients I use:
• 1 cup of quinoa (I use Ancient Harvest Inca Red Quinoa)
• 2 cups of reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 1 jar of organic salsa (I use the black bean and corn salsa from Roots)
• 15oz (can) organic black beans
• 15oz (can) organic corn
• 32oz (can) organic diced tomatoes
• seasonings to include: cumin, cilantro, onion flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper
• organic blue chips
• organic low-fat sour cream (optional)
• guacamole (I like to buy from whole foods, or you could make fresh) (optional)
• organic mix of mexican shredded cheese (optional)

First I get the quinoa cooking. I bring to a boil the veggie broth with the quinoa. Once boiling, simmer for 15 minutes, covered. (You know when the quinoa is done when the germ separates from the seed. The cooked germ looks like a tiny curl and should have a slight bite to it like al dente pasta.)

As the quinoa is cooking, start heating up in a larger pot, the salsa, black beans, corn and diced tomatoes. I sprinkle in the cumin, cilantro, onion flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper…adding not too much, but just as much as I see fit. Stir together and let that heat up on medium-low heat.

Once the quinoa is done, (drain the little bit of liquid that may be leftover, and) add that to the pot of everything else. Stir together.

I serve it in a bowl with cheese on top to melt and with the blue chips on the side. Scooping the chili/cheese with the chips and dipping that all in with sour cream and/or guacamole…..YUMMMMMMMMY!!!!! I’ve made this for a family gathering before, and it was a complete hit….so easy to make and SO DELICIOUS!

If you are making this for just yourself and your significant other, you will have leftovers for the next day’s lunch and dinner…but I’m sure is plenty for a family of 4 or more

I apologize for skipping last week (week of Sept. 13).

On Sunday, I made a soup that just wasn’t that great – Bread Soup. It was ok, but I have made better. I’m sure there are better recipes out there for Bread Soup, so until I find it and make it, I think I will leave that recipe out for now.

HOWEVER, for the bread soup, I did make croutons from scratch, which was cool.
Croutons ingredients:
• yummy gourmet bread, sliced
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

Basically, you heat up your oil, with the garlic, in a pan large enough for a couple/few of your slices of bread…and similar to making grilled cheese (only without the 2nd slice of bread and cheese), you leave the bread on its first side for about 5 minutes until it browns. Flip it over and wait for the other side to brown. Take it out of the pan, let it cool. (I placed on paper towels to soak some of the grease off.) And you have croutons! (Something to keep in mind though, if you’re browning a lot of bread, be sure to keep the bottom of your pan moist with more olive so you don’t burn your pan or the bread.)

Another day last week, I also made a Mexican Burrito with Eggs.
Ingredients:
• Wraps (Organic/whole wheat are what I prefer to use)
• Organic eggs
• Salsa of your choice
• Organic black beans
• Organic Cheese – Mexican mix of shredded cheese

I heated up the salsa and black beans together. (Keep in mind, when you used canned beans of any sort, ALWAYS get rid of that extra liquid in there and rinse them off well, it will help decrease the farting later )
As that was heating up, I scrambled some eggs, flavoring with salt, pepper and basil. Grabbing from another recipe, here is how I made my scrambled eggs once again.

Heat up some butter or extra virgin olive oil in your stainless steel skillet. Crack open your eggs into your skillet (watch out for broken shells!), add your seasonings and mix. As they begin cooking, stir as needed to get them good and scrambled. I prefer my eggs really cooked, but you can keep them cooking as long as needed to get them to your liking.

Once your eggs are done, layer the salsa/bean mix, cheese and eggs in your wrap and wah-lah!  You can serve with organic blue chips on the side, with extra salsa, guacamole and/or sour cream also on the side. YUMMMMMMMM!!!!!

I made other stuff too (such as the Kale Salad again), but these couple were the things worth mentioning that may be of interest to you readers.