Avocado and tofu enchiladas verde

Life has been happening and I've been slacking on my posts.  Hopefully I'll make up for my absence with this fabulous enchilada recipe.  I make this recipe with different fillings all the time.  Whatever I have on hand I combine for a filling and it's always a hit with the kids!  I happened to have avocados and tofu on hand when I documented this so here goes!
To make this recipe you'll need...
2 avocados
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 lemon or lime
1 container of firm or extra firm tofu
At least 10 tortillas (I like whole wheat)
1 can of diced tomatoes (green chilis add flavor so I like to get the tomatoes with them)
1 jar of verde salsa
cumin, salt, and pepper
fresh cilantro
*optional shredded cheese (I used a cheddar/monterey jack blend but Daiya cheese would be great here too)

Preheat the oven at 325 degrees
Chop the onion and garlic and throw into a bowl!

Then slice open the avocados and scoop them into the bowl.

Slice open lemon or lime and squeeze the juice into the mixture. Mash all of the ingredients together.  If you don't have a masher just use a fork!

Now open can of tomatoes and pour into the bowl.  Season with salt, pepper, and cumin.  I like a good amount of cumin it adds a lot of flavor!

Now slice open the tofu and crumble the brick over the avocado mixture.

Chop cilantro and add to mixture.  Just use your judgement of how much to use!  I like a handful or two...

Now get out a 13 x 9 casserole dish and line up your tortillas.  Scoop a couple of heaping spoonfuls into the tortillas one by one and roll them up.  Then place them into the dish.

Put dish in oven and bake for 20 minutes.  Then remove from oven and pour jar of salsa over enchiladas.  Add cheese now too if you're going to be using it!

 

Put dish back in oven and bake for 10 more minutes!

Enjoy!

Like I said you can be creative with this recipe it's a great base!  Black beans and sweet potatoes are one of my other favorite fillings for this.  I like to serve it with some spanish rice or quinoa on the side.  It's really easy and delicious and a crowd pleaser as well.  Thanks to MarlaRed photography for photographing our cooking adventure! 

Kale Chips

My friend Jill recently introduced me to Kale chips.  They are incredibly easy to make and super healthy and delicious!  To make them all you need is

a bunch of kale
and some salad dressing ( I used Goddess dressing but you could even go as simple as olive oil with salt and pepper)

First preheat your oven to 300 degrees.  Then rinse your kale and dry the stalks in a salad spinner or with a towel.  You want them to be as dry as possible!  Then cut the stalks off.

Now it's time to break the kale off of the remaining stalks in bite size pieces.

You want to make sure you remove all of the stalks in the center.

Now put all of the bite size pieces into a bowl and drizzle them with the dressing.  You want to lightly dress the kale.

Mix it up so that all of the kale is totally dressed but don't over do it!

Now sprinkle the dressed kale out onto a foil lined baking sheet.  I line it with foil for easy cleanup!

Put the baking sheet into the oven for 15 - 20 minutes.  You want it to be crunchy and fragrant!  Remove from the oven and enjoy!
  This is such a great snack.  It's got that salty, crunchy factor that chips have but they're so much better for you!  My kids love these!  I like to sprinkle them into salads for extra crunch or even use them as a side to a veggie burger or sandwich...:-)
  I feel that these are best eaten right away or the day of because they tend to lose their crunchiness with time.  But you can store them in a zip lock bag.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family and friends do!  Thanks Jill!!!

My personal health journey

Ok so I just haven't found the time to take pics and document every step of my cooking process this past week.  It's tough when you've got 3 kids to look after while you're doing it!  But I promise to document at least one meal this week.
  I thought I'd just talk a little about what I eat and the process that's brought me here.  I grew up eating a lot of processed food and always struggled with my weight.  I've always been very active so I knew that wasn't the issue.  Once I moved out of my parents house and was on my own I started to question the foods I ate.  I stumbled upon Marilu Henner's book Total Health Makeover and it changed my life.  It basically educated me on what I was putting into my body and how harmful all of the chemicals and preservatives that they put in processed foods are.  I had no idea I was consuming all of this and felt very betrayed.  I just couldn't understand how I was being "poisoned" without being aware of it.  So I vowed to make an effort to treat my body better and to stop eating meat and dairy.  It was very difficult because I didn't know how to cook so I ended up eating a lot of frozen meals and processed vegetarian foods to start off.  It was basically an easy way to transition into this new world of eating no meat or dairy.  When I became pregnant with my son Gavin I started to eat meat again.  I'm pretty sure I was eating dairy long before that.  It's just so easy to slip back into your old ways.  The convenience outweighs the effort at times.  But I usually avoided red meats and still made a conscious effort to eat organic produce and to avoid preservatives and chemicals.  That always stuck with me...
  After I had Gavin I watched a lot of cooking shows and began watching Christina Cooks.  Christina Pirello is a local vegan cook and enthusiast that cured herself of cancer through her diet.  She's very inspirational and she taught me so much about food and how to cook healthy vegan dishes.
  I also watched Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals and learned a lot about how to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into my cooking and how to make quick meals.  She taught me a lot of great tips on how to chop vegetables and so many shortcuts like using vegetable stock instead of water in many recipes.
  I basically started to use recipes as a base and changed them to suit my needs.  I still do that today.  I look at recipes for inspiration but change them up by substituting what I have on hand.  There are many meaty dishes that I change to be vegetarian.  It's really easy once you get the hang of it!
  As time went on I got pregnant with Autumn and went back to meat once again.  But when she was about a year old I stopped eating meat and never looked back.  I feel so much lighter and healthier and I honestly do not miss it at all.
   A few years ago I began getting my summer and autumn produce through a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)  It's really a pleasure to know that I'm supporting a local organically grown farm and I get to reap the benefits of the bounty they are creating.  Once a week I fill my basket with fresh, colorful, and delicious organic produce and between that and the garden in my back yard I rarely buy other produce.  I enjoy going to local farmer's markets and supporting the farmers in the area to meet my other produce needs.  There is nothing like fresh local produce.  It's so much better for your body, it has a lot more nutrients and it's so much tastier! 
  We started a garden in our backyard about 4 years ago and each year it gets bigger!  It's really quite addictive, the process of planting your own food and just going out back when you want something is so rewarding and educational.  My kids LOVE being a part of this process and they are definitely better eaters because of it.  They sometimes stop playing to just grab a sprig of mint or tear off a baby tomato for a snack.  We let them have their own sections of the garden last year and they got to plant whatever they wanted in those sections.  They were so excited to have the opportunity and really ran with it!

  They have become really great eaters and I'm so passionate about incorporating them into this way of life.  I constantly tell them why we eat what we do and I include them into the cooking process whenever curiosity strikes them.  I don't know why people feel kids are allowed to eat crappy food but when they grow up they should eat healthier.  I am teaching my children how to treat their bodies well NOW!  I feel it is my job as their parent and the fact that this gets overlooked so much in the world today is very upsetting to me.  If we teach them now they will always respect their bodies.  You only get one!  My daughter Astrid is 1 and has never had meat.  She is a wonderful eater and is very healthy!   She eats what we eat.  Nothing special for any of my kids.  I make one meal a night and that's what we eat!  It's possible I promise!!!  Don't get me wrong we get complaints but I stick to my guns.  If they don't eat what I made they don't eat period.  Trust me if they're hungry they'll eat it.  It gets easier with time.   Here's Astrid enjoying some guacamole...:-)

  So there you have it just a little glimpse into my journey of healthy eating.  It's so worth the effort!   I'm still taking baby steps toward better and healthier ways but it all comes down to feeling better for me.  I'm not trying to live to be 100!  I'm not trying to be a size 2!  I just want to feel strong, fit, and healthy!  I want to have the energy and stamina to get through each day with a clear mind and a smile on my face.  And treating my body well helps me do that.  I feel more connected with nature and the earth and my mind just feels clearer.  It's not being weighed down by the digestion process or chemicals anymore. I'm much more creative and happier and you can be too!

Lemon Rosemary Hummus

Hummus is such a great dip and it's so easy to make.  It's very light and refreshing and you can serve it as an appetizer or just enjoy it as a snack.  Here's a recipe for lemon rosemary hummus.  To make this dip you will need

1 cup of dried garbanzo beans (or a 16 oz can if you want to take a shortcut)
1 lemon (we're going to juice and zest it)
1 clove of garlic
1 or 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (if you want to use dried that's fine I prefer fresh)
2 Tbsp of tahini
olive oil

salt

Place the dried garbanzo beans in a bowl and cover with water.  Let it soak overnight

Drain the garbanzo beans and place in a pot.  Cover with water so that the water is about 2 inches above the beans.  Then place the pot on the stove under high heat and cover, bring to a boil.  Once it's boiling turn down to low and let simmer an hour to an hour and a half.  You want the beans to be soft

When the beans are ready drain them in a colander but you want to reserve a ladle or two of the liquid for when preparing our hummus

Now it's time to throw everything into the food processor!  Pour the beans in first (if you're using canned just drain most of the liquid into the sink but reserve about a half cup)

Then zest your lemon with a microplane.  The zest adds so much flavor!  All of the oils are held in the zest and it makes a world of difference when it comes to flavor.  I highly recommend you don't skip this step.  When zesting be sure to move the lemon around and get all of the yellow.  You don't want to zest the white as this is the pith and it's bitter.

Now it's time to juice the lemon.  I like to roll it back and forth on the counter to get the juices flowing before I cut it in half.  Then just squeeze both halves into the food processor.  Be careful not to get the seeds in

Then add your 2 Tbsp of tahini, clove of garlic, salt and reserved liquid from the garbanzo beans.

Turn the food processor on and drizzle olive oil in while it's pureeing.  Just use your judgement and add until you get the desired consistency, should be about a tbsp or two.  You can always add more of the reserved liquid to lessen the olive oil whatever you prefer.  This should take about 30 seconds to a minute...

Turn the processor off and push down the mixture with a rubber spatula.  Then add finely chopped rosemary.  Sprinkle it around

Turn the processor on again to mix everything up just run it for about 10 seconds or so...
Remove the hummus from the food processor and add it to a bowl.  Cover it up and refrigerate for at least an hour or two to allow the flavors to mingle and the hummus to firm up.  Serve with raw veggies, chips, or pita bread.  This is also a delicious sandwich spread.  Enjoy!

Potato and kale stew

So I thought I'd start off my food blog with a nice hearty, healthy stew in honor of the winter season.  This is one of my go to soup/stews that's super easy to make and very delicious and filling.  To make this stew you will need...


A bag of kale pre chopped if you want to go the easy route or a couple of stalks chopped up
a bag of assorted small potatoes ( I had baby red bliss and yellow potatoes on hand)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
tofurkey sun dried tomato sausage links(or feel free to improvise with another protein)
1 or 2 quarts of vegetable stock
fresh rosemary (or any herbs you have on hand)
salt and pepper

Start off by chopping your onion and garlic cloves

Add them to a preheated pot at medium high heat drizzled with olive oil

Then chop the potatoes into a small dice

Add them to the pot once the onions and garlic have softened a bit, be sure to stir them as they heat up

Once they are all softened ( probably about 5 minutes of stirring the pot)  add 1 quart of vegetable stock

Be sure that the veggies are covered up if you need more stock add it...  then add the kale

Stir it up to incorporate the stock and cover the pot to wilt the kale quicker.  Let it sit about 5 minutes, once it looks wilted add the chopped up tofurkey sausages and can of diced tomatoes.  Chop up the rosemary or herbs and add them with salt and pepper to taste.  I like lots of pepper I find it flavors the soup!

Stir it all together and turn the heat up to high.  If it looks like it needs more liquid add more stock or water.  The liquid should cover all of the ingredients.  Bring to a boil

Once it's boiling turn the heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat and serve!  I like to sprinkle it with some parmesan cheese and serve it with some crusty bread.  YUM!!!

Soups and stews are always better the next day so I like to make a big pot for leftovers!  This pot should make at least 8 servings. 
  This stew is loaded with healthy vitamins and nutrients and it's delicious and filling!  My kids love it they practically lick the bowl clean.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I do...:-)