Easy Salmon Patties - Grain Free

Honey has been hinting around for me to make salmon patties.  His mom used to make them.   Eek! How can I even come close to as good as mom's!

Well, honey gets my version of how I think you make salmon patties (I've never made these before). I don't have flour in the house, so I used almond meal which makes these grain free.  Cool!

I think they tasted pretty good, but I think next go I'll add another egg and more almond meal.  These were sort of iffy on staying together when they needed to be turned.  I also think I'll experiment more with spice the next time.

Grain Free Salmon Patties
Ingredients
2  6 oz cans of salmon shredded with a fork
1/4 of a sweet onion
1/4 of a cup of almond meal
1 egg
various seasoning (I used onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper)

Begin heating your large fry pan on medium heat with non stick spray

Mix your ingredients.

Form 4 patties.  Place in pan and brown, turning gently.  Cook until golden brown.

We enjoyed ours with my easy peasy hash browns (sweet for me) and corn on the cobb.

Enjoy

Easy Taco Lentils

These go hand-in-hand in the EASY category with Easy Lentil Sloppy Joes (which has been a pretty big Pinterest hit and even got shared on someone else's blog!)

I'm all about the easy.  I've been working my normal job, I started a 2nd stay at home job for another ministry, I have a home based health and wellness business, and I help my hubby with his handmade business.  So easy and leftovers are a must at the moment.  But we still like tasty and try to stay on as healthy a track as possible.  I'll admit these aren't the super healthiest b/c the seasoning is a mix, but we do use the lower sodium in a pinch.  I haven't had the ambition to make my own taco seasoning... but feel free to sub your own preference of taco seasoning.

I love lentils.  They are super easy to cook (I hear you can buy them canned in a bigger city!), they taste great, and are so versatile!  They are a great substitute for ground meat but so far I've only used them, instead of meat, for sloppy joes, tacos, and in chili.


Easy Taco Lentils 
Ingredients:
Cooked Lentils
1 Packet Old El Paso low sodium Taco Seasoning
2/3 cup water

If you need to cook your lentils.  I cook about 1 cup of lentils in 2 cups of water.  This is about the equivalent of 1 lb and a half of ground meat.  (I always make too much for 2 people with left overs)

Instructions to cook lentils: 

• Sort 1 cup of lentils in a strainer to remove any stones or bad pieces
• rinse the lentils
• Add the lentils to 2 cups of water and bring to gentle boil on medium heat.  Lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until desired texture.  If adding salt, wait until about 5 minutes left and lightly salt lentils.  
• When they are done, put back in strainer to drain excess water

Taco Lentils

• Put the cooked lentils to a frying pan
• Add the seasoning mix and 2/3 cup of water
• Follow the instructions on the seasoning packet.  (gently mix ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn temperature down to simmer for 3-5 minutes)
• Serve however you normally would with taco meat.

We can't stand store bought taco shells.  So last night, I put tortillas on a cookie sheet, added shredded cheese to half of the tortilla and melted the cheese in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes.  This put a light crunch on the tortilla to make it more solid for holding the fillings... (i.e. shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, onions, salsa, roasted pepper slices, sour cream).  I don't have pictures of our tacos from last night because we were starving and just dug in!  

I serve with either spanish rice or chips and salsa

Leftovers always make a great taco salad or nachos (pictured above)!

Husband approved!

Easy Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

There are tons of variations of this recipe on Pinterest.  This is not an original recipe, but I don't know who to tell you who should get the credit.  Also, I read the ingredients on a recipe then did my own thing.  But this is a recipe share that I think you'll LOVE! 

I love that this basically takes about 14 - 20 minutes to make and although the tortellini absorbs a ton of broth, this soup is still fabs as leftovers.  BONUS:  This yummy soup freezes too!  I put the extra leftovers in single serve containers and freeze for work lunches.  Did I mention this is a BONUS?

I hope you'll love this.  Feel free to make this your own and then let me know how you varied the recipe!

Easy Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup 

Ingredients
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 20 oz. package of Cheese Tortellini.  I use Buitoni from the refrigerated section
1 pint grape tomatoes (halved)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sun dried tomato or tomato basil pesto
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
salt & pepper (optional)

Directions

Bring your broth to a boil (TIP:  I halved the tomatoes while the broth came to a boil)

Add the tortellini and simmer on low/med for 7 minutes

Add the tomatoes and simmer for 2 more minutes

Add the cream, pesto, and red pepper flakes.  I did add a tad of pink salt and pepper

Let simmer for about 5 more minutes to reheat.

Enjoy!

A few variations, off the top of my head, would be to add spinach or other veggies or maybe change up the pesto!

Don't forget to let me know your variations!

Easy Roasted Grape Tomatoes

I never thought of roasting tomatoes and adding them to a meal or even making them the main attraction of a dish.  But I had a pint that got dried out a tad from being forgotten a few days.  They were fine, they were just slightly wrinkly in places.  So I decided I'd roast them and add them to pasta with pesto for an easy supper.

The hardest part of roasting the tomatoes is halving them.  And that's not even hard.  It's just tedious cuz, you know... short attention span Tracy was handling it.  ha ha.

These were lightly seasoned but the roasting infused the seasons and really brought out the sweetness of the tomatoes.  Wow, were they delicious!

In case you are like me, and didn't really know what to add to your tomatoes or how long and what temperature to bake your tomatoes, this recipe is for YOU!  I even measured this time and if you've read any of my recipes, you know this is like miraculous. 

Easy Roasted Grape Tomatoes

Ingredients:
1 Pint Grape Tomatoes halved
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 tsp salt (I use pink Himalayan)
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cloves minced garlic ( I buy the jars of minced garlic and use the equivalent - this is a great short cut for any busy cook that's also wanting to visit with the family and have a bit of time for their side business)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Add your halved tomatoes to a small mixing bowl.

Add the EVOO, salt & pepper, and garlic.

Gently fold the ingredients to keep the tomatoes intact.

Place the tomatoes on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Now add them to tonight's supper!  I added them to freshly cooked pasta, pesto, and some pre-cooked grilled chicken pieces.  Easy peasy yummy in the tummy supper!

Enjoy!

Your turn!  What do you plan to add your tomatoes to?

Sweet and Tangy Cucumbers

This is one of our favorite side dishes!  It's refreshing, versatile, and inexpensive!

My grandmother K and my mom used to make a similar cucumber recipe that I understood to be a common Polish side dish.  Well at least it was in my grandma's Polish house and my mom's 1/2 Polish home.  They added Miracle Whip and sugar to white vinegar to make theirs.  We enjoyed them growing up as they were sweet.  My father LOVED them.

I tried this mixture to eliminate the mayo and sugar but try to obtain a similar flavor.  I've tasted similar at our favorite Thai restaurant.

Sweet and Tangy Cucumbers
Ingredients
1 large cucumber (peeled and sliced per preference)
2 -3 tbsp of Rice Vinegar
2 stevia packets

I've always used a coffee mug to mix this.  I'm not sure why.  ha ha... but add your vinegar to a mixing cup or bowl then add your stevia.  Mix well.

(disclaimer - I'm guessing on the vinegar amount.  I'm a dumper from way back and I stink at remembering to measure.  Be brave and taste test a tiny amount before adding to your cucumber)

Pour over your cucumbers and stir.

If possible, make this about an hour or 2 prior to your meal so the cucumbers can marinate.  These are wonderful on day 1 but amazing day 2!

My cucumber tip.  I'm not an expert on veggie storage but I normally store cucumbers in the fridge.  I go ahead and peel and slice my cucumbers and let them sit a while on the counter tossed in extremely light salt before I pour this mixture on them.

If you have any cucumber tips, please share in the comments!

Easy Lentil Sloppy Joes

Our attempts at eating mostly vegetarian continue after an all meat Sunday left me feeling like poo!
I will reiterate, that we have not gone 100% vegetarian... We actually enjoy eating meat.  I love a good burger, a yummy steak, and messy chicken wings.  But goodness!  I feel so much better eating plant protein over animal protein and that's my personal fact!

So where was I... oh! yes, vegetarian adventures.  As I am still not well since January, our vegetarian adventures are on the easy side.  So tonight even has crummy pictures... this extreme fatigue is REAL y'all.  Ugh.

But let's start with a little fun.  Does anyone know where Sloppy Joes originated?  I didn't!  But being naturally curious and a constant learner... I googled it!  I came across this great little article on the history of sloppy joes.  Check it out...  The History of Sloppy Joes by ionnutrition.com

So here's the super easy lentil sloppy joes.  If you prefer to make this meaty style, I've made these with ground chicken or as lean as possible ground beef (but ground chicken is very, very lean and tastes pretty good as a sloppy joe)

Easy Lentil Sloppy Joes
Ingredients:
Cooked Lentils
1 packet McCormick Sloppy Joes seasoning mix
1 1/4 cup water
6 oz. tomato paste
1/4 or 1/2 cup brown sugar (optional)

If you need to cook your lentils.  I cook about 1 cup of lentils in 2 cups of water.  This is about the equivalent of 1 lb and a half of ground meat.  (I always make too much for 2 people with left overs)

Instructions to cook lentils: 

• Sort 1 cup of lentils in a strainer to remove any stones or bad pieces
• rinse the lentils
• Add the lentils to 2 cups of water and bring to gentle boil on medium heat.  Lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until desired texture.  If adding salt, wait until about 5 minutes left and lightly salt lentils.  
• When they are done, put back in strainer to drain excess water

Lentil Sloppy Joes

• Put the cooked lentils to a frying pan
• Add the seasoning mix, 1 1/4 cup of water, 6 oz of tomato paste, and brown sugar if adding it. 
• Follow the instructions on the seasoning packet.  (gently mix ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn temperature down to simmer for 10 minutes)
• Serve on your favorite bun and yum! 

Hubby even had seconds and said this was a keeper!

Yummy!

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Veggie Skillet Pasta

This was super easy and yummy!  It's actually a good base for a camping dinner recipe!

You can also own and vary this recipe however you want.  This made about 6 servings


Veggie Skillet Pasta
1 box of pasta (I had 1/2 a box of Dreamfield's penne and threw in come whole wheat elbows)
1 jar of sauce (I used Bertolli Rustic Cut pasta sauce with garden vegetables - Roasted Garlic)
1 pepper (I had an orange one on hand) - coarsely chopped
1 small sweet onion - coarsely chopped
1 zucchini - sliced
2 cups of water
1 tbsp EVOO
1 tsp minced garlic
salt and pepper (optional)


You could save time and dishes and maybe cook your veggies in with the pasta, but I used my good ole frying pan and sauteed my veggies in EVOO and garlic.

• In a deep skillet, empty your jar of sauce and 2 cups of water and put on medium to heat sauce to a simmer.

• While the sauce heats, place your EVOO and garlic in your frying pan, heat up for a minute or so and then add your chopped veggies.  Sautee to your liking.  

• Your sauce will be a good heat while your veggies are cooking.  As it lightly bubbles, turn heat down to medium low and add your pasta.  Time 10 minutes.

• Finish your veggies and remove from heat.

• After 10 minutes, reduce heat on the pasta to low, add your veggies, then wait another 5 minutes.

• The pasta will be wonderful, the veggies re-heated, and the sauce thickened and absorbed into the pasta. 

Enjoy!

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Veggie Enchilada Lasagna Recipe

Veggie Enchilada Lasagna

Say that 3 times fast!

You know I'm always on this better health journey!  I've made better overall health a lifestyle.  We have cheat moments, as we are not perfect.  But I am pleased that 95% or more of my diet is healthful.

Before I got sick with the flu, I made this dish.  This was after seeing a documentary on a plant based diet and I got a "bug up my butt" about trying to eat more plant based.  Not vegan and I will partake in the occasional burger  or steak because they taste amazing to me (no judgement zone, okay?).

At any rate, I look at my diet.  I ate a small handful of M & M's yesterday.  I am pretty sure I eat sugar or chocolate 3 times a year max!  I hardly eat carbs and when I do, it's whole wheat or whole grain of some sort.  I eat lean chicken but I will admit, if bacon is on the table, I'll eat it.  I don't eat much fish as it sometimes makes me feel puny, but I love a good shrimp cocktail now and then.  I try to eat lots of veggies and hardly any fruit b/c I'm afraid of sugar.  I also have a texture thing and struggle to get a banana down sometimes but I love strawberries.

I got a treadmill in mid November and prior to getting sick, I have been on that thing or my mini elliptical 5 or 6 days a week!

So there's my boring diet.  I lost 16lbs last year with supplementation and trying to improve my health but I'm still pre-diabetic and my cholesterol is creeping up.  All of this making me high risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.  NO!

Long story short (too late!)... there's not much else to eliminate from my diet or add to with the time available that I have.  It never occurred to me to try a vegetarian or mostly vegetarian diet.

We're in the experimentation stage.  Translated, that means I need to come up with some yummy ways to disguise veggies so hubby will eat them and make sure the meals are satisfying and filling for him so later snacks aren't "needed".  I love veggies.  Almost all of them.

Here was the first trial run.  It was delicious, filling, and not disturbing to our tummies as veggies sometimes can be.  This was fairly easy.  The most time consuming was the veggie chopping, but once everything was mixed together, assembly took no time.

This made 8 servings.  It's fairly low in calories but it is not low carb (but not all carbs are created equal).  On a plus side it has a decent amount of protein and fiber!  I will alter this recipe on the next go.  I will use more like 6 tortillas and no salt.  There's plenty of salt in the cheese and salsa.

So here you go!

Veggie Enchilada Lasagna
Printable version

Ingredients
1 Red Pepper - chopped
1 medium sweet onion - chopped
1 can no salt added black beans - rinsed and drained
1 cup of additional veggie of choice ( I would have liked to have added chopped sweet potato but hubby doesn't like them so I chopped up some very lightly steamed fresh cauliflower.  I also added fresh spinach to my portion)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt ( I used pink salt but if I make this dish again, I will not use salt)
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (optional)
2 16 oz jars of salsa (per choice).  We didn't have salsa but a large jar of picante sauce (same thing?)
about 15 corn tortillas

Chop your red pepper, onion, and additional veggie(s) and place in a medium or large mixing bowl.  Add the black beans, seasonings, and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.  

Mix them together.

Begin lasagna assembly

Add about 1 cup of salsa to the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish and spread a thin layer on the bottom.

cut your tortillas in half and line the pan on top of the salsa.  ( I had about 5 rows)

Scoop about 1/3 of a cup of the veggie mixture on top of each row of tortillas, then spread it around more evenly.

add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese

add another layer of tortillas and then add salsa on top of the tortillas

add the remainder of the veggie mixture on top (this is where I put spinach on my 1/3 of the lasagna)

add 1 more layer of tortillas and then more salsa on top of the tortillas

Bake on 400 degrees for 20 minutes (tent foil over the top while baking)

After 20 minutes, add your last 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and put back in the oven, uncovered, for 10 more minutes.

after 20 minutes

cheese added and ready for 10 more minutes

Enjoy!

cheesy out of the oven

my piece with spinach

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Easy Homemade Fried Potatoes

I usually try to plan our next week's menus the day before I grocery.  That way, we stick to a budget and a healthier eating plan.  Are we flexible enough to deviate?  Well... when you find a sack of potatoes that you forgot you had purchased (and they're still in excellent shape)... you deviate from your planned side dishes and plan ahead a little.  

So this week, we had chicken breasts for 2 nights and then I had a package of pollack in the freezer for tonight.  I had planned long grain rice for both chicken nights.  As I went into my fabulous new kitchen cabinet that honey restored and refurbished for me (OMG!  I need to do a post on the cabinet!), I noticed a sack of small potatoes.  As I thought to myself, "when did I buy those?".  I also thought, "dang, I better use those before they go bad!".  

So we had rice one night and then I baked potatoes last night.  Thinking ahead, I baked 2 extra potatoes for fried potatoes tonight.  

So here's the simplest way to make yummy fried potatoes for 2: (of course do your potato count and onions based on family size)

Ingredients:

Leftover baked potatoes chopped (you could also quick bake your potatoes in the microwave prior to making these but they are easier to handle cold out of the fridge rather than hot out the microwave)

1/2 large sweet onion chopped

1 tbsp EVOO

Seasonings: 

onion powder

garlic powder

pepper

pink Himalayan sea salt

That's it!

Put your EVOO in your frying pan and heat on medium.  Add your potatoes and onions to warm pan, season, then stir up on the warm EVOO.   

Periodically mix the potatoes around to brown them nicely (about 15 minutes or so)

Enjoy as a side dish for any meal and also as yummy extra with weekend breakfast!

Super Easy Garlic Dipping Oil for Bread Recipe

We made a light summer supper tonight.  We included dipping oil for our bread.  It was so easy to make... but I might add, that although many Italian restaurants serve this with their bread (and it's oh so yummy) I don't think it's actually an Italian custom.  I think proper bread etiquette is to eat bread with your meal and use it to dip into the delectable sauces... but I've never been to Italy, so what do I know!

So, since we're in Georgia, USA... we had sort of an appetizer supper.  Cheeses, fruit, crusty garlic bread with dipping oil, and cocktail sausage... because there just wasn't enough to share with Baby dog if we didn't have them.  =)

Garlic Dipping Oil

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of Olive Oil 
• 5-6 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped 

Add about 1 teaspoon of Olive Oil to a small fry pan and warm on medium heat.  Add the chopped garlic and stir until brown.  

Oh the fragrance is fabulous! 

This made about 2 teaspoons of garlic (maybe a tad more).  

Add 1 teaspoon of the roasted garlic to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in dipping bowls.  Let the dipping oil sit for about 30 minutes to infuse the flavor.

This was sooooooooooooo good and sooooooooooo easy!

Enjoy!

Oktoberfest in My Mouth - Sauerkraut and Turkey Kielbasa One Pot or Crock Pot Meal

My honey spent about 1 year in Germany performing in West Side Story.  He found that he liked the Chinese food while he was there.  Ha ha.   Basically, if he wanted a salad that wasn't pickled, he had to get it at a Chinese or Italian restaurant while he was in Germany.

He does enjoy some German food and this is one that he inspired me to make as he likes all of the ingredients and is such an encouragement to my "experiments" in the kitchen.

This recipe can be made in a stock pot and cooked slowly for a few hours or it can be prepared in your crock pot. I prefer to make this on the stove top so the potatoes don't get too mushy.  If you do decide on the crockpot, I'd cook it on low only and for about 6 hours.

I also prepared this with plain sauerkraut (no caraway seeds) and turkey smoked sausage or kielbasa (whichever one is on sale).   I experimented with sweet potatoes for me in an effort to keep this lower carb. They were surprisingly good in this recipe.  They took on the flavor of the broth and sauerkraut and honey, who hates sweet potatoes, took a bit and said they WERE good!

Of course, I do not know how to cook small, so my ingredients probably made 6 - 8 portions.  But I love leftovers.  Dinner is made for tomorrow and possibly Wednesday's lunch.

One Pot Sauerkraut & Kielbasa (low fat & low carb options)

Regular potatoes option

Ingredients
2 cans of plain sauerkraut
1 large sweet potato chunked
3 medium potatoes chunked
1 medium sweet onion sliced
2 packages turkey or plain kielbasa (smoked sausage) chunked
1 tbsp better than bullion (chicken)
1 mug of warm water to dissolve the bullion a bit.
1 bottle of beer
1 tbsp EVOO

Drizzle the EVOO into the stock pot and add the onion and kielbasa.  Cook on medium heat for a few minutes to soften the onion slightly brown the kielbasa.

Add the potatoes, sauerkraut, beer, and bullion.

Place a lid on your pot and cook on low for a few hours (until the potatoes are firm but cooked) or on medium low for about 30-45 minutes.

Serve and Enjoy!

Low carb option with sweet potatoes