Presto Basil Pesto!

Basil pesto is a wonderful source of greens and easily makes many dishes delicious! Some of my favorites are pasta (of corse!) and fresh fish.  This recipe freezes very well and thaws in just a few minutes!

Presto Basil Pesto Recipe:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup parsley
1-3 garlic cloves 
2-3 tablespoons fresh basil pesto (don't bother making it if you don't by fresh, sorry!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 pine nuts

Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. 

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled! We like to freeze big batches in a shallow container and fork out as much as needed. It will thaw in about 10 minutes on the counter. Just be careful if you decide to heat up the sauce too much (the oil can separate and just not be a fun)!



Wonderful frozen basil pesto that is just as good as fresh!

Popeye Was Right =)

SPINACH ROCKS!!! I use spinach in everything! Salads, soups, eggs, chili, pancakes, smoothies, whatever I can cram the green stuff in without too much notice. 

After the family has had its fill with fresh spinach, I freeze the rest!  I have found this is the easiest way to use it daily.  If you chop it right out of the freezer, it can be as small as an herb in a few minutes. 

I think spinach has a mild enough flavor that most people don't even notice the extra added gem except for the color! The Irish would agree more green the better. =))

I am what I am, 
Bretta

Ground Nut Soup and Salad

Occasionally I feel the need to realign my diet. 

I know the foods that work best for me. 

More so I know the foods that don't work well for me. 

Namely white flour, white sugar, alcohol.

You know, all the good stuff :(

A few years ago, a year after my second child was born I started an eating regime with my mom called the Perricone Promise. 

Dr. Perricone is a dermatologist who came up with an eating plan for a younger appearance which had the side effect (on us at least) weight loss. It is a 28 day program and we committed to doing it together. He also wrote The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet book which I don't like as well but I enjoy some of the recipes.

It has become my go to eating re-align-er.  

Yes, I should eat by it's guidelines all the time. I feel better, I look better, and I keep my weight in check.

The reality is that I like having a beer with my husband and a pizza night now and again.

And slowly the now and again becomes all the time and my jeans get tight. 

The wonderful thing about having this is that I always know I can go back to it and that it works for me. I believe in balance but when you swing too far one way the pendulum must swing the other way for a while so you can get back to a happy center. 

Strawberry Salad

3 cups Baby Spinach
5 Strawberries, chopped
3 mini Cucumbers
1 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds 
2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinaigrette (Make your own, it's olive oil and vinegar, add salt, garlic, and mustard if you want to get fancy but for goodness sake don't spend money on products that give you a bunch of stuff you don't want.)

 

 African Groundnut Soup
adapted from The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet which adapted the recipe from Stop the Clock cooking.

Olive Oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon curry powder
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, pealed and minced
1 jar of tomato sauce (preferably one you canned after the harvest last year ;)
1 bay leaf (my family is still arguing the effect of the bay leaf but I throw in anyway, sorry Uncle Ted.)
4 cups chicken broth (you know, from last night's whole crock pot chicken dinner)
3 tablespoons almond butter 
1 1/2 cooked soy beans (edamame works as well)
1 lb. cooked chicken
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 pound spinach (or kale, chard, or other dark leafy green)
Salt and Pepper and hot sauce to taste

• Saute onion, pepper, celery in olive oil for about 5 minutes.
• Stir in garlic, ginger, curry powder.
• Add tomato sauce and bay leaf and cook about 3 minutes.
• Add broth, bring to boil, reduce to low, whisk in almond butter until blended.
• Add beans and chicken and cook until heated through.
• Stir in cilantro and spinach.
• Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce if desired. 

Chili with Beans and Ground Meat

Chili is a winter time household favorite that can be reheated easily. Every time I make this it turns out a little different as:

• I like to mix up bean varieties - someone I know has a real problem with kidney beans because they are KIDNEY beans! I will not mention names to protect the innocent (or just flat out strange!)
• I may not always have peppers on hand and just leave them out!
• I like to mix up chili spices by substituting Chipotle or Ancho. 

Chili with Beans and Ground Meat Recipe:

2 tablespoon olive oil or grapeseed oil

4 garlic cloves

2 large sweet onions (or regular if you can’t find sweet onions, but really try harder next time!!)

2 pound turkey or lean ground beef

1 tablespoon cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 ¼ cups cooked chili or black or kidney beans (15 oz can, organic is better! Read the label on the other stuff, yuck!)

2 ¼ cups cooked white beans

4 ½ cups diced tomatoes (28 oz can)

1 tablespoon balsamic Vinegar

2 tablespoon black strap molasses

½ cup frozen finely chopped spinach

Heat oil in a large pot (5-6 quarts) and sauté onions and minced garlic for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Add ground meat and cook for another 5 minutes. Toss in the cumin and chili powder, stir well and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add beans, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and molasses. Cook, covered for 15 minutes. 

Add chopped spinach, stir and it’s ready to serve! 

Embellish with cheese, sour cream, yogurt, scallions or a little cayenne to spice up your pallet!!

Warm Chili Wishes, 

Bretta =))

Spinach Salad With Roasted Beets and Gruyere Cheese

Ok, this is more a post about feeding myself rather than feeding my family.

I have made an amazing discovery about myself:  I love beets.  This may not seem like such an earth-shattering revelation, but for me it is. You see, I am, quite honestly, a picky eater. Growing up I was like my son, to whom very few foods are acceptable. As an adult my range of culinary tastes has broadened significantly, but comparatively speaking I am still pretty picky. That is, compared to my husband. The range of foods he likes is enormous compared to mine. Since we have been together he has doggedly insisted I try new foods (similar to the way we feed our children!), and he has had much success.  I owe the fact that I eat onions to him (when we were first together I refused to eat anything with onions in it. At his stubborn insistence I finally agreed to try onions, at about age 25, and realized I loved them). There are countless other things that he has made me try and I have realized I like, but for every success he has had there have been just as many failures. He has finally accepted that I will not eat steak, no matter how it is prepared, but he is still struggling with the fact that I can't stand peppers.

Beets are something my husband, Lex, cannot stand, and I always assumed I couldn't either. After all, I never ate beets growing up, as my dad despised them also. In fact the roots (hehe) of my beet prejudice go back at least as far as my father's parents. My grandfather hated beets so much that it somehow became a joke between him and my sister. They would exchange pickled beets for Christmas as a joke.

A couple of summers ago Lex and I were invited to dinner with some friends from his work. We were served salad with pickled beets that the hostess had grown and pickled herself. There is one thing that overpowers my stubborn picky eating habits, and that is my sense of politeness.  There was no way I was not going to eat those beets. But, lo and behold, I liked them! On the way home, my husband marvelled at the fact that I ate the beets. He was floored when I told him that I liked them, and I think he thought I was lying for fear he would go to work and tell his coworkers how much I hated the beets.

Recently, a favorite restaurant of mine put a salad on its menu that contains roasted beets.  When I ordered it, Lex said, "You know that has beets in it, right?" 

"Yes, that's why I ordered it."

"But you don't like beets."

"I think I do like beets."

"No, you don't. Beets are gross."

The beets were delicious.  I only wished my salad had contained more of them.

So that is my culinary badge of honor. A healthy, nutrition-packed veggie that my grandpa hated, my dad hated, my husband hates, and I apparently love.

The recipe:

Spinach Salad With Roasted Beets and Gruyere Cheese

1/3 cup thinly sliced red onions

10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1/2 avocado, peeled and diced

2 large handfuls spinach

2 large beets, prepared according to Bretta's instructions for roasting veggies)

1 oz Gruyere cheese*

My go-to balsamic vinaigrette (recipe follows)

*Normally I use Romano cheese in salads, or blue cheese. But I had bought Gruyere for another recipe and thought I would try it in salad.  The result, I think, was amazing. The flavor of the cheese with the roasted beets was spectacular.

Toss all ingredients together and coat with dressing to taste.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

3-5 garlic cloves (depending on size)

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup olive oil

Press garlic through a garlic press into a bowl or salad dressing container. Add other ingredients and whisk well until thoroughly combined.

Cinnamon and Sugared Pecan Salad

 Call me transparent, but the better and treaty-er it sounds the higher my kids' enthusiasm is in eating it. 

1 head Romain

2 handfuls Spinach

1 cup blueberries

1/4 red onions diced

1/4 cup feta crumbled

1/2 cup cinnamon and sugar almonds 

(brown raw pecans in pan with a bit coconut oil, toss in jar with cinnamon and sugar to taste, keep around to sprinkle on salads)

1/2 cucumber chopped

(slice other part of cucumbers for water glasses at the table to make it a fancy meal, according to my offspring)

Dressing:

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Keep a large dressing made up and dress salads to taste.  

Put it all together. 

 

Smoothie Pancakes

I promise to add pictures asap but I want to start putting this on now. The sooner you start making these the happier a person you'll be. You'll forgive the photo digression eventually. 

Smoothie Pancakes are far and above my favorite thing to make for the family. They are the easiest way to ‘sneak’ in veggies and other healthy foods while still appealing to the crowd. 

They are a great way to introduce your kids to different colored foods; green, purple, and yellow in natural ways which will make their appearance later less off-putting. The possibilities are literally endless and your creativity is your only limit. Here is a basic recipe from which to start.

2 very large handfuls spinach
1 1/2 cup oats (old fashioned rolled, not quick cooking)
1 cup milk (add more to desired thinness)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 large eggs or 3 small eggs
10 almonds
1 frozen banana (fresh is fine, frozen is just more likely in my house)
1/2 tablespoon oil
pinch of sea salt
cinnamon to taste

Throw all ingredients in blender - the better your blender, the better!
Cook on hot skillet or griddle as you would traditional pancakes.

Topping suggestions: syrup (the real, pure, maple sort, in moderation of course), honey (raw, local), fruit spread, fruit salsa, regular salsa, lemon curd.
We put a fried egg on top for anyone in the mood and occasionally serve with a breakfast meat.

Alternative ingredient ideas that actually work~
Spinach: Kale, Chard, Brussels Sprouts
Oil: Coconut oil, flax seeds
Milk: any milk substitute works including yogurt
Almonds: any nut
Additions: Apples (quartered with peel and core)
Blueberries, raspberries, cherries
 
Once the family is used to the change from traditional pancakes you can  stir in some corn, peas, cocoa nibs, hemp seeds, or whatever other superfood of the moment floats your boat. 
 
You get the idea; the possibilities are endless.