Veg Base

         This is just about the easiest thing I make and I use it for all kinds of things. It's a vegetable base that I use for soups and stews. With it I will share the two recipes I use it most for, Minestrone and Tortilla Soup. I find that it works especially well with these two soups in particular. It also works well as a soup just by itself, just add a can/cup of beans in there for some protein and you are all set. I also take a cup of this and blend it up to throw in my pasta sauce recipe, gives it a nice flavor profile without a lot of effort.

Veg Base

3 carrots, small chop

2 stalks celery, small chop

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 head cabbage, chopped

1 head broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces

1 quart water

1 quart veggie broth

2 Tbsp. no salt seasoning (I use the organic stuff from Costco, its awesome.)

1 C. crushed tomatoes

2 Tbsp. EVOO

salt and pepper to taste

Take a large pot and heat the EVOO up and add carrots, celery and onion, once translucent add cabbage, then add water and garlic, let simmer for 5 minutes, add remaining ingredients and let simmer for 20-30 minutes or until veggies are soft enough to be pierced easily by a fork.

Tortilla Soup

Veg Base

1 C. frozen corn

1. C cooked brown rice

1 1/2 C. cooked black beans

1 C. chunky salsa

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. lime juice

Add ingredients to veg base and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add additional water if necessary. Serve with tortilla chips,  vegan sour cream and cheese.

Minestrone Soup

Veg Base

1 can tomato paste

1 C. cooked garbanzo beans,

1 C. cooked great northern beans or kidney beans

1 C. frozen green beans

2 C. spinach, roughly chopped

1 zucchini, sliced and quartered

1/2 C. seashell pasta

2 tsp. dried basil

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

Add ingredients, except for tomato paste, to veg base and let simmer for 20-30 minutes or until pasta is cooked. Add tomato paste, stir to combine, if there is not enough liquid add water. Serve with crusty bread and vegan Parmesan cheese.

yummy!

So yesterday I went grocery shopping and bought a bunch of fresh veggies and fruit. I promptly cut everything up and put into clear plastic containers. That way I see it and eat it. Try that trick in your fridge, honestly it makes it so much easier to make healthy decisions when it comes to eating. Especially when its already prepped for you, I also do this with garlic and onion. I have whole peeled cloves of garlic in a jar in my fridge and at least 1 chopped onion, saves on time.
Today I am making yogurt and granola, that way I can start my day out with fresh yogurt and granola on top of fruit. I make my yogurt in a crockpot that way I don't have to buy another peice of cooking equipment that I would only use once in a blue moon. This just gives me another reason to love my slow-cooker. I'm just gonna link you to the blog I got the recipe from because to explain the whole methodology would just be a bit repetitive and I want people to check out the blog because she has TONS of slow-cooker recipes. A Year of Slow-cooking
I used to think that making granola was hard, so like a lot of people I bought it from the store. Preferably Trader Joe's because lets face it, I love that store. Little known fact: Trader Joe's is owned by the same people that own Aldi..interesting huh? But anyways back to the granola, its actually pretty easy to make, but its really easy to ruin as well. I know this cuz I burnt my first 2 batches. The thing to understand with granola is that it gets crunchy outside of the over, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT overcook it, otherwise all you will end up with is burnt oats. The thing that I love about granola is not only is it easy to make your own, but it's very versitile, and you all know how much I love versitle foods. Let's say you don't like almonds but like pecans, well you can just sub those right in, same goes for the dried cranberries, you can sub any dried fruit in place of the cranberries. You can find granola recipes all over the internet, but I stick with this one, its quick, simple, and easy. Here ya'll go

Easy Granola Recipe
2 cups rolled oats
2 teas. cinnamon
1 tea. salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teas. vanilla extract
1/2 cup almonds
1/3 cup hazelnuts
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Place the rolled oats in a bowl and add the cinnamon and salt to the oats. In a small bowl mix the oil, honey, brown sugar and vanilla together, pour wet mixture over oats and mix well. Preheat the oven to 325 and pour oats mixture onto a cookie sheet and spread out evenly. Put cookie sheet into the oven and leave for 10 minutes, after 10 minutes are up take granola out and add in almonds, put cookie sheet back into the oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, flip granola and add hazelnuts, put back into the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes flip the granola yet again and leave to cool for 10 minutes, then add the dried cranberries. Put granola into an airtight container, granola will be good for up to a week, if it is still around after that long. Enjoy!

On a side note, I figured out how to get my cookie sheets spotless without the pain in the butt of soaking and scrubbing and soaking and scrubbing them some more. Next time you clean the the oven throw the pans in there dirty side down. The oven will self clean itself and your pans, take them out after the cycle and wipe down. Ta-Da, clean pans, no muss, no fuss. Gotta love cleaning done easy!

who wants chipotle..night?

Today I decided that I was gonna give out my recipes for my at home going out meal. One of the favorite restaurants in my household is Chipotle, and though I do not like paying their prices their food is delicious. So..I make my own burrito bowls/tacos at home. Here are the recipes.

Carnitas

3lbs of pork shoulder or bone in pork roast or boneless pork roast cut into cubes (PS leave the fat on)
1 Tbsp adobo seasoning
1/2 c. orange juice
1 clove garlic chopped
1/2 onion chopped
4 cups water

put everything in the crock pot on low and cook for at least 6 hours...the longer you leave it the more tender it will get, when it is done I usually throw it on the stove so the water can cook out and when the water cooks out the fat will turn into lard and the meat will fry up a bit so it turns a bit crunchy..which tastes awesome!

I also make white rice and add some cilantro to it and heat up a can of pinto beans and add some salt.

Basically to assemble the burrito bowls, you take a bowl and put some cilantro rice in it, followed by the beans (or no beans if you prefer), and then the meat. I then add cheese (Mexican melting cheese is the best for the recipe) and salsa, followed by lettuce and corn-tomatillo pico di gallo and sour cream.

Here is my recipe for the pico.

Corn-Tomatillo Pico di Gallo
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 jalapenos, chopped
2 large tomatillos, diced
2 small cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
handful of cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp salt (or salt to taste)
juice from 1 lime
1/2 cup frozen corn

Mix everything together in a bowl. Cover and leave in fridge for at least an hour to let the flavors meld together.

These recipes aren't too hard to make and hopefully this helps all you Chipotle addicts to save some money by making your own at home. I know we have. Enjoy!