Luscious Lentils for Dinner

Being a full-time working mom has created many new challenges for me but I refuse to let Healthy Cooking fall by the wayside. I also refuse to add any unnecessary stress to my already hectic life. Having said that, I cook 98% of all our meals, and I swear it is what keeps me going most days! While I'm not the most organized person in the world, I have acquired a few staple meals that I cycle through every few weeks. Lentil soup is a NEW recipe for me, and while it was not the tastiest soup that I've made, it satisfied our bellies and actually tasted better the next day.

I cooked the Lentil Soup on Monday night but we didn't eat it then. Instead, I re-heated the soup on Tuesday and cooked it a little longer than expected, so that when I went to remove it from the stove it looked more like a bean dip than a soup! I got rave reviews from the family on this one, so I decided to post it here for all my followers. Please feel free to let me know what you thought, or if there are other ways or ingredients to make Lentil Soup. For now, I am very pleased with this soup's ease, simplicity, and comforting appeal. I hope you are too!

Ingredients:

2 cups of Green Organic Lentils (soaked overnight)

3 Tablespoons of Pasture Butter

1 Organic Yellow Onion (diced)

3 large Organic Carrots (chopped)

4 cloves of Organic Garlic (chopped)

2 small Organic Russet Potatoes, Peeled and chopped

8 cups of Organic Chicken or Vegetable Broth (I use homemade Bone Broth)

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. In a large pot, toss the butter, onions, garlic, carrots, & potatoes and saute' for about 8-10 minutes.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook (uncovered) on medium heat for 90 minutes or until the lentils are soft. You can continue to add more liquid as it boils down, or you can make a thicker soup consistency.

Serve warm with fresh bread, or boil down the water until it becomes like a "bean dip" and serve with Tortilla chips!

The Healthiest Chocolate Pudding!!!

I've always enjoyed chocolate. It has been my favorite flavor when it comes to many things, but these days I no longer crave the Snickers bars of the past. Now that I've acquired a taste for raw Cacao beans, I'm totally addicted to this pudding. It's a healthy addiction. One that includes an energy boost, mental clarity and a release of those feel-good endorphins! I highly recommend you give this a try. If you do, please share your thoughts with other followers of this blog by commenting below.

Until next time, Live Well!!!


Raw Chocolate Pudding Recipe

3 medium Organic (ripe) Avocados
1/2 Raw Cacao Powder
1/2 cup of filtered water
1/4 cup Agave Nectar
1/4 cup raw wild honey
(OR just add 1/2 cup Agave or Honey)
2-3 Tablespoons of Vanilla (if using Raw Vanilla Bean, try only 1 Tablespoon)
1 tsp of Sea Salt or HimalaSalt (pink rock salt)

Combine all ingredients in a high powered blender. Blend until hot, smooth and creamy
Top with crushed almonds, walnuts or slices of banana!

Turkey Meatballs in November?

Thanksgiving Week is quickly approaching, but that doesn't even stop me from getting my weekly dose of homemade Turkey Meals. For the most part, Turkey meatballs are a staple in our home. My 2-year-old toddler can't seem to get enough of them and I just love the fact that it takes me all of 10 minutes to prep, then plop in the oven for 30 minutes. Since so many people have requested this recipe, I thought I would add it my blog. I don't measure the ingredients when I make this dish, but I've tried to be as precise as possible here. Use your judgement and let me know if you made any adjustments. Gobble, Gobble!! =)

1 package of free range, hormone free, antibiotic free ground turkey meat.
1 egg (organic is always best)
1/4-1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (we use gluten-free)
3-4 cloves of freshly chopped garlic
1/4 cup grated cheese
2 tsp of fresh parsley (finely chopped)

Preheat oven to 350
combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together with your hands.
Add 2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin, Organic, Oil Olive to a baking pan, or cookie sheet
Use an ice cream scooper to scoop out balls of meat and drop into pan
Bake on 350 for 30 minutes!

Butternut Squash time of the year!!

If you've only had Butternut Squash with butter or tomato sauce, you are truly missing out!! It took me 10 minutes to prep and then it baked in the oven for 30 min. All-in-all, a very simple meal to make. I never knew Butternut Squash could actually be an entire meal!! Give it a try. Let me know what you think if you do!

Spaghetti Squash I Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Carrot, Banana, Walnut Muffin Recipe

The Fall season seems to be the best time for Baking and Cooking homemade goodies! I usually start by making a few different soups for the week and then I begin experimenting with new Muffin or bread recipes. This time I came across a truly delicious and HEALTHY Muffin recipe! I decided to give it a try when I looked at all the ingredients and saw there was no need for Sugar!!!! The ingredients were very basic and I had them all on hand.

After these were done, I began dipping into the pan, night and day, for a little treat. (You may not want to make the bite-sized versions, as it was much more conducive for snacking on throughout the day.) These are truly hard to resist! I think next time I will return to making the large muffins that can be eaten as a meal or a FULL snack-on-the-go! If Tyler were already in school, this would definitely make a great snack to include with his lunch!

If you decide to try out this Carrot, Banana, Muffin Recipe, please leave a comment letting me know what you thought. If you didn't like, or altered it in any way I'd love to hear about that too!!!

~ Here are the list of ingredients I used that may have changed the flavor or the quality slightly.

- Aluminum-Free Baking Soda

- Gluten-Free Sorghum Flour

- HimalaSalt

Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash recipe

I have to say this is very simple and delicious!! Great that we'll have some warm, soothing, comfort soup for this cool Autumn week ahead! Try it and let me know what you think. (This is another example that homemade cooking can be simple and stress free!)

Full-time working mom & home-cooked meals?

Is it even possible to be a Full-time working Mom, and a FULL-time cook at all meals? Well, in order for my son and me to have the best nutrition, I had to give it a try to find out. So far I will tell you that it does require a whole lot of planning. I'm thinking that may get easier as time goes by and I learn how to fully adjust to the cook ONE, eat Twice plan.

I used to think that it was too much work to plan the meals for the week in advance, but now I see it's just too much work NOT to!!!! When I go shopping I already have a few meals in mind that I'd like to make for the week. Breakfast is pretty simple, as we cycle through the main meals and smoothies but dinners are always a little more of a challenge.

I've been making MORE servings of each meal and freezing in preparation for the days towards the end of the week when I am tired and don't feel like cooking when I get home. I've turned to my crockpot in the past for certain meals, but now I'm beginning to get more creative!!!

This morning before leaving for work I put Turkey Drumsticks in the crockpot, and when I came home I had a delicious dinner waiting for me!!! Here's the recipe in case you'd like to give it a try. IF you do, please be sure to post a comment and give me some feedback. Suggestions are always welcome too!

Barbecue Turkey Drumsticks

2 lbs of Organic, fee-range, Antibiotic free TURKEY drumsticks

1/2 cup Organic Barbecue Sauce

2 tablespoons of Steaksauce

1/2 cup of spring water

Put turkey and water in the crockpot. Pour the sauces over the top of the drumsticks. Cover the crockpot and set on LOW for 8-10 hours.