Carrie's Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

"Easy vegetarian minestrone soup simmered in the slow cooker is loaded with vegetables and macaroni for a warm weeknight dinner."

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups vegetable broth 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained 1 large onion, chopped 2 ribs celery, diced 2 large carrots, diced 1 cup green beans 1 small zucchini 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup elbow macaroni 4 cups chopped fresh spinach 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, or more to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Combine vegetable broth, tomatoes, kidney beans, onion, celery, carrots, green beans, zucchini, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, thyme, and black pepper in a 6-quart slow cooker.
2.	Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.
3.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 8 minutes; drain.
4.	Stir spinach and macaroni into minestrone; cook another 15 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2015 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 5/6/2015

Carrie's Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole

"REAL" CHICKEN BROCCOLI RICE CASSEROLE

Ingredients

8 SERVINGS

• 7 ½ cups cook Brown Rice, Long-Grain
• 2 cups cook and dice Chicken, Boneless Breasts
• 4 cups dice and cook Broccoli
• 1 ½ cups Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 ½ cups Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1 ½ cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded, #1
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt
• ⅛ teaspoons Black Pepper
• ½ cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded, #2

Jamason's Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies

Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies

These oatmeal cookies are full of fruit and cinnamon, and they’re incredibly soft and chewy. They’ll stay that way for

an entire week if stored in an airtight container—if they last that long!

1 c (100g) instant oats (measured correctly)

¾ c (90g) whole wheat flour (measured correctly)

1 ½ tsp (4g) baking powder

1 ½ tsp (4g) ground cinnamon

⅛ tsp (1g) salt

2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tsp (5mL) vanilla extract

½ c (120mL) agave

1 c (125g) finely diced red apple (about 1 medium)

Kelly's Oatmeal Bars

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (from wellplated.com)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 8 bars 

Ingredients

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 large banana, quartered and diced
• 1 handful frozen berries

Beth's Summer Chickpea Salad with Honey Garlic Lime Vinaigrette

Summer Chickpea Salad with Honey Garlic Lime Vinaigrette

YIELD: SERVES ABOUT 4

 

TOTAL TIME: 35 MINUTES

ingredients:

3 cups chickpeas (or 2 (15-ounce) cans, drained and rinsed)
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 ears grilled corn, cut from the cob
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 lime, juiced and zested

Miranda's Coconut Pecan Date Rolls

Coconut Pecan Date Rolls

Ingredients

12 fresh (soft) dates, seeded
1/2 C pecans, chopped

Miranda's Squash, Kale & Mixed Bean Soup

Squash, Kale & Mixed Bean Soup

serves 6, prep time 15 min, cook time 45 min

1 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 t smoked paprika (I used regular)

Miranda's Pinach and Egg Soup

Spinach and Egg Soup

 

1 pound of spinach (can use much less if that’s what you have)

2 tablespoons of butter

Mika's Asian Noodle Salad

Here are the recipe for the half package of the bean noodles I get at Cub. (They are in Asian Food Section and costs about $2, picture attached)
 

ASIAN NOODLE SALAD

Ingredients
 1/2 package of noodles (after boiling for 3 min., wash in a running cold

                                      water, drain, then cut with cooking scissors)
 3-4 eggs (pan fry them into sheets, and slice them thin)
  5-6 slices of ham, cut thin and about 2 inches long
  1 English cucumber, cut thin and about 2 inches long

<sauce>
  7 1/2 T soy sauce
  7 1/2 T vinegar
  5T sugar
  1T sesame oil

  sesame seeds

①Make the sauce and put the cucumber & ham.
②Boil the noodles for 3 min., rinse under running cold water, drain, and  cut them so they are easier to eat. Put them in the sauce.

   Also add some sesame seeds and mix well.
③Mix half of the eggs to ②, then put the rest of the eggs on the top.

④Chill and ready to serve!
 

 

Mika's Cake Recipe



Delicious when done!

Cake Recipe

ingredients

  5 eggs

  a pinch of salt

 

  7.5 T sugar

  5T flour, sifted

①Preheat oven to 360F

②Separate egg whites and yolks, put whites in a bowl, set aside the yolks.

③Add a pinch of salt and sugar to the egg whites, mix well with a hand mixer.

  (approximately 5 min. on high speed, or until stiff-peak stage)

    

Stiff-peak

④Add yolks to ③, mix with a hand mixer for about a minute.

⑤Add sifted flour to ④, mix with a hand mixer until you don't see any flour,  for about a minute.




Add caption

⑥Put a parchment sheet on a oven tray, fold each side, and pour ⑤ in them. 


⑦Bake ⑥ in the oven for 10 minutes. (on middle or upper shelf) you can cover the cake with the oven tray itself so that the moisture won't go away.

 

 

⑧After the cake is cooled down, put whipped cream on, with diced strawberries lined in a row closer to your side, and roll all at once.

You might want to put a little more whipped cream under the strawberries.

Jamie Oliver

OK, this isn't a recipe, but it is a great video talk about food and kids:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver

Hummus

By sassy radish

Ingredients:
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1/2 cup, plus 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon, more to taste
Cayenne
Za’atar
Pita wedges, for serving

Preparation:

1. Rinse the soaked chickpeas and drain them before putting them in a saucepan and covering them enough fresh water so that you have an inch of water above the chickpeas. Add the 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, skim the scum that forms, cover and cook over medium-low heat, about 1 hour until chickpeas are tender, adding more water if necessary.

2. Drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking liquid and place them in the food processor. Add the garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and the rest of the salt and process until smooth. If the hummus is too thick, add some of the cooking liquid until you get a thick, but moist consistency.

3. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and lemon juice, if desired. Serve sprinkled with cayenne and za’atar and drizzled with olive oil. Add a few drops of lemon juice, if desired, and eat with toasted pita wedges.

Makes 4 cups.

Suzanne’s Chicken

2 bunches of jews (okra) cleaned, washed, dried and chopped (big pieces)

3 pounds of chicken tight

1 head of minced garlic

1 bunch of cilantro cleaned and chopped

1 cup of lemon juice

1 cup of vinegar (red wine vinegar or apple)

1 big diced onion

1 1/2 cups of rice (Uncle Ben's or basmati)

2 teaspoons of butter

2 teaspoons of salt

1 loaf of pita bread

 

How to prepare

 

Boil the chicken until its tender, save the broth, and clean the chicken from the bones. Put the broth in a pan, and set aside 3 cups. In a sauce pan, put the garlic and add 1 teaspoon of butter. Once the butter is melted, add the cilantro and stir about two minutes, then add to the broth. When it's boiling add the lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of salt. Then add the jews and stir occasionally. It takes about 30 minutes to well done. After that it is your choice, you can add the chicken over the jews and mix with them or your can serve it over the plate when you want to eat.

 

How to serve the plate

Put one spoon of rice in the bottom and add jews over the rice, then add chicken over the jews. Add the backed crunchy bread some pieces (as you like). Mince the onion and the vinegar together, and add about 2 tsp over the bread.

 

Bon Appetite!

Corinna's Zucchini and Sweet Potato Mini Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup applesauce or Greek yogurt (can be a combination of both)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ to 2 cups grated zucchini
1 ½ to 2 cups grated peeled sweet potato

Preparation- one batch makes approximately 4 dozen mini muffins 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla to blend in large bowl. Mix in zucchini and sweet potato. Add dry ingredients and stir well. Transfer batter to prepared mini muffin pan. I spray them with Baker’s Joy or you can use butter and flour. Fill batter almost to the top and bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. If the pan is well prepped, the muffins generally come out without a problem, but you can run a knife around the edge if need be. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

Mika's Olive Penguins and Cakes

Mika's Angry Bird Cakes

Olive Penguins

Olive Penguins

18 jumbo black olives, pitted
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
18 small black olives 1 carrot

Directions

Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak. Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.

Mika's favorite kale salad

Sadie’s kale salad
By Jim Ray

• 1 bunch of kale
• 1/4 cup good olive oil (4 tbsp.)
• 4 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. shallots, diced
• 1/2 cup aged gouda, grated
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a small pan on medium-low and slowly toast the pine nuts, about 4 to 6 minutes, shaking occasionally. Keep an eye on them as they will burn quickly.
2. Add the diced shallots to a small bowl with a pinch of salt, and lemon juice. Mix with a fork to combine.
3. Slowly pour a thin stream of olive oil into the shallot/lemon juice while whisking to emulsify the dressing.
4. Grate the cheese.
5. Separate the kale leaves from the tough stems. Chiffonade the leaves by stacking 4 to 5 at a time, rolling them tightly, then cutting them into thin slices.
6. Add the leaves to a large mixing bowl, whisk the dressing again, slowly pour about 2/3 of the dressing around the edge of the bowl then mix the salad. Add more dressing if it seems dry.
7. Add about 1/2 of the grated cheese, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper to the salad, mix to combine, then repeat.
8. Add half the raisins and toasted nuts, turn once, then top with the remaining. Alternatively, plate the salad before adding the raisins and nuts then dole those out individually. Serves 4-6

Mika's Bean Soup with Kale

Recipe by USA WEEKEND columnist Jean Carper

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
8 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cups chopped raw kale
4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, such as cannellini or navy, undrained
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons dried Italian herb seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chopped parsley

Directions

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onion; saute until soft. Add kale and saute, stirring, until wilted. Add 3 cups of broth, 2 cups of beans, and all of the tomato, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. In a blender or food processor, mix the remaining beans and broth until smooth. Stir into soup to thicken. Simmer 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with chopped parsley. Recipe by USA WEEKEND columnist Jean Carper