This is a new favorite of mine. I could eat it a couple times a week. It really warms you up on a cold day and it is so good for the immune system with its garlic and gingery goodness. The fish sauce and peanut butter combo gives it a savory-salty kick. As a soup fan and an Asian food fan…this dish totally satisfies. Try it, you won’t be disappointed!

Spicy Peanut  Shrimp Soup

6 cups chicken broth
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small sweet red peppers, sliced
2 small red chilis, sliced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (look for no sugar added)
1 lb shrimp, cleaned – tails off
3 cups frozen or fresh baby spinach
5 green onions (whites and greens)

In a saucepan simmer the broth, garlic, chilis, peppers, ginger, fish sauce, and white onion for a good ten minutes to allow the flavors to fuse. Whisk in the peanut butter. Add the shrimp and cook until opaque if raw. Add frozen baby spinach and green onion and stir for a minute or so. If using fresh spinach you can put a handful or two in the serving bowls and ladle the soup on top.

If you want to avoid spice just remove the chilis. Easy peasy.

Enjoy!

I love cooking with garlic. Lots of garlic. Luckily this yummy soup does indeed have lots of garlic…two whole heads actually. What is that…20-30 cloves? You just can’t have too much.

I like to make this recipe when it is cold because it is very warming. It is also great to eat during cold and flu season because garlic helps boost the immune system. It is also very affordable for eating well on a budget. Potatoes and garlic don’t cost all that much so I splurge and buy really good parmesan cheese to go with it. Enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

8 Ounces yukon gold potatoes, chopped (3/4 of a one pound bag)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Heads of garlic
6 Cups chicken or veggie broth
1/4 Cup parmesan cheese (plus more for sprinkling)
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pull loose skin off of garlic heads and cut the tops off so that the cloves are exposed. Cover each in one tablespoon olive oil and wrap in foil. Roast or 45 minutes in an oven safe baking dish. Allow the garlic to cool and then squeeze the cloves out of the skin.

Bring the potatoes, garlic, and broth to a boil. Cover and simmer until potatoes are soft. Pour all ingredients into a blender, including the 1/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper. Blend well and pour into bowls. Garnish with more cheese (optional). Pairs well with a nice crusty bread.

Enjoy!

This just might be my new favorite fall soup. It is scrumptious! Also pretty easy to make, just a bit long on cook time. I love pumpkin and you find great sales on pie pumpkins right about now but I am not big on making tons of sweets and pies. I usually put them in the slow cooker and make my own pumpkin puree for pancakes, smoothies, and souffles. That is about it…until now. You can bet I will be stocking up on pie pumpkins so I can make this soup throughout fall and winter!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cream
1 cup stock (veggie or chicken)
1 clove garlic
1 T butter
2 T olive or coconut oil (non virgin)
Half a small onion or the white part of a large leek
4 ounces goat cheese
One small apple (cored, skinned, chopped)
1 tsp thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 medium to large pie pumpkin

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. Cut out the top off the pumpkin as set aside, scoop out the seeds and the stringy pulp of the pumpkin. Make sure to set the seeds aside for gardening next spring…or you can use them for roasting. Oil the outside of the pumpkin and the inside of the pan (we used a cast iron dutch oven).

Inside the pumpkin bowl add butter, stock, cream, garlic, onion, apple, and some salt and pepper. No need to mix, just toss it in. Replace the top of the pumpkin and cook for 1.5 hours. Remove from oven and add the goat cheese and thyme. Cook for another half hour.

When finished remove from the oven and scrape the sides of the pumpkin gently to loosen the pumpkin flesh. Be careful not to pierce the pumpkin so that you won’t have a messy plan to clean up later. Use an immersion blender to puree all the ingredients into a thick soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. This soup serves 2-3 people so if you want to feed a larger family go with two pumpkins and a roasting pan.

It will be super hot so be careful! Enjoy!

I love tacos. In fact I love all Mexican food. I also love the crockpot. I use it all year long but it is especially helpful in the summer when I don’t want to heat the house. These days though I need recipes that only require 4 hours, instead of 6-8 as typical. I just don’t have the time for that. Making chicken or beef for tacos is perfect. I just cook on high for 3-4 hours and voila…a  delicious home cooked meal that took 10 minutes (or less) to prepare. Quick and easy. This recipe can be used for chicken breasts or beef and it tastes delicious either way, lots of flavor. Most times we just use Bibb lettuce instead of taco shells but every now and then we will use organic corn tortillas.

Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos

2 pounds boneless chuck roast (or 3-4 large skinless chicken breasts)
1 packet taco seasoning or 3-4 Tablespoons DIY blend
1 jar salsa (we use mild for the kiddos)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I like Amy’s Organic)
Fresh tomatoes (chopped)
Sour cream
Lettuce (shredded)
Avocado (chopped)
Cheese (shredded)

Put your meat in the crockpot and cover with the taco seasoning, salsa, and mushroom soup. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, until it can be easily shredded. Spoon the taco meat onto lettuce or taco shells and top with sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, and avocado. Yum!

Leftovers can used for taco salad the next day!

Most days I eat breakfast outside the house. If I don’t want to eat from a cafe or vending machine then I have to plan ahead and bring food with me. The same goes for lunch except I find that lunch food is much easier to prepare in advance…breakfast not so much. This is why I usually just end up eating some fresh fruit and a nut-based snack bar of some kind, maybe some yogurt. No complaints there I just wanted some variety so I decided to see if I could whip up some kind of omelet or frittata that could be made the night before and be just as tasty heated up the next day. Score!

Not only can you make these yummy frittas the night before you eat them you can prepare the ingredients for cooking for several days in advance and keep in jars in the fridge. Then when it comes time to cook one you just dump out the ingredients in the pan, add the eggs and away you go. No chopping veggies each night because you already did it. It’s fast and easy and gives me something a bit more substantial than fruit and yogurt.

Make Ahead Breakfast Frittatas

Ingredients:
2-3 pastured eggs
2 cups shopped leeks (white and dark green parts)
1 cup chopped mushrooms
Sliced ham or bacon
2 T Parmesan cheese

How to Make: Preheat oven to 350. Clean and chop veggies. Add veggies and meat to a hot cast iron griddle or skillet and saute until the mushrooms and leeks are soft, about five minutes. Whip together the eggs and cheese and pour on top of the veggies, tilting the pan until all areas are covered with egg. Put immediately into the pre-heated oven and cook for another five minutes.

Eat immediately or place in a to-go container for breakfast (or lunch) the next day.

I prepare the ingredients for 3 days worth of frittatas all at once. The ingredients for the other two are then kept in separate Ball jars in the fridge. Then I just grab a jar, dump the contents onto a hot skillet and cook away. This saves oodles of time because the leeks are not that easy to clean (grown in sandy soil).

For more make ahead breakfast ideas check out this book written by another blogger, The Busy Mom’s Make-Ahead Breakfast Cookbook. I have it myself and it is full of great recipes that are either make ahead, prepare ahead, or quick and easy to make first thing in the morning…all healthy and made with real ingredients of course. No junk. Recipes include homemade granola, breakfast bars, overnight slow cooker meals, muffins, breakfast sandwiches, and much more. I highly recommend you check it out if you struggle with healthy breakfasts in the morning.