(I Do It) My Way

I've gotten repeated requests for healthy recipes, so I'm going to start listing them here as I have time (and photos). Most of these are not purely of my own invention; I usually have gotten the starter recipe from someone else's blog and tailored it to fit my own lifestyle/tastes. I will give the link to the original site, if there is one, along with my version. I know how hard it is to sift through all the info and recipes online; and how much harder it is to find recipes that actually taste good. I've had quite a few disasters in my kitchen and have wanted to cry and give up on multiple occasions. That said, here's the first recipe:

GREEN SOUP

I like to make a nice big batch and freeze what I don't eat right away. Then, whenever I want lunch (or a simple dinner) I pull some out and I'm good to go. I use heavy cream or half and half instead of milk to cut out the amount of sugar in the recipe; however, in allergy season, I don't mind using raw milk to help me out with my sniffles and sneezes. I also used pastured butter instead of olive oil because it's healthier when cooking.


INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter
2 leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced
2 1⁄2 cups green beans cut into 2-inch pieces
2 1⁄2 cups small broccoli florets
2 medium zucchinis, sliced
5 cups chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 1⁄2 cups cream
4 tablespoons minced parsley
Yield: I usually have 5-7 servings.


RECIPE

Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat, add the leeks and saute for a few minutes. Add the green beans and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the broccoli, zucchini and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. When the vegetables are tender, put through a blender, or use an immersion blender to puree them in the pot.

Return the pureed vegetables to the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the cream and cook, stirring, over medium heat for 10 minutes more. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve.

Click HERE for the link to the original.

This site doesn't seem to have been updated in a while but she has lots of really great tasting foods. I haven't made anything of hers that I haven't absolutely loved.  Since it's Lent, I have been making some variation of this on a regular basis. Cauliflower also works well in this recipe, if you don't have broccoli.

PECAN BISCUITS

Served with it are biscuits made with pecan flour. My girls didn't like these and prefer them made with almond flour and NO fresh herbs instead. Personally, these took some getting used to but were good with the soup and I definitely recommend them with some pastured butter on top. Click HERE for the recipe I used. (unfortunately I didn't make the confit or the fried sage but hope to eventually). The site is run by a girl (woman?) whose husband has I believe a digestive disorder but this is a gorgeously inspirational site. I've only tried the one recipe but hope to make more soon. I think somewhere on this site she also has a recipe for regular almond flour biscuits, if you need something less fancy. 

COCOA CEREAL

And last, in case you need some cereal, this recipe was AWESOME. I'm not a cereal person but this stuff is seriously good, despite what it may look like. It tastes something like cocoa puffs or cocoa crispies, but holds its own in milk (I used unsweetened almond milk) and doesn't get soggy. 

Ignore the fact that it's not perfectly uniform pieces. You basically make them whatever size you want by stirring and since I didn't really know/care about what I was doing it wound up with large and really small chunks.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup erythritol (or Truvia)
1 tsp stevia glycerite (omit if using Truvia)
1 cup almond flour
1 cup JAY ROBB chocolate whey protein (or egg white protein)
1/2 cup plus 2 TBS butter or coconut oil, melted
2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp pure chocolate extract

RECIPE

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (170 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine erythritol and stevia glycerite, almond flour, whey, and chocolate extract in a small bowl. Stir in butter and water with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Divide the dough in half and place half of the plain dough on a cookie sheet with defined edges. Keep the other half in the bowl and add the cocoa powder; stir to combine well.
Place the cocoa cereal dough on separate cookie sheet with defined edges or the butter may leak off. Bake for 12-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and gently stir while still hot. Let cool in the cookie tin (it will crisp up A LOT). Break pieces apart and enjoy with unsweetened almond milk. 

YIELD: 6-8 servings but maybe less depending on how much you like cereal

Click HERE for the original.

I hope this helps out those of you who wanted some healthy pre-tested recipes; the ingredients and amounts I listed are what I use and what works for me. All of these ladies have fantastic sites that are worth checking out for various reasons.